the BNP the landlord and yourselves have your own points of view Richard and as long as we all make our points of view peacefully and clear there is no problem .Now put it all behind you and carry on .
big hugs Teddy xxxx





 

That's unbelievable. Well, I think we know where the landlord's political tendancies lay now don't we? If it as up to me, I'd never set foot in the p[lace again, but it might be hard on the artists who have made special plans to get there on Sunday. It's a hard one.

 

"Nick Griffin is right to say London is not his city. London is a welcoming, tolerant, cosmopolitan capital which thrives on its diversity. The secret of its long-term success is its ability to attract the best from wherever they are and allow them to be themselves – unleashing their imagination, creativity and enterprise. The BNP has no place here and I again urge Londoners to reject their narrow, extremist and offensive views at every opportunity."

 

Boris Johnson, the Conservative Mayor of London, responding to Nick Griffin’s claim that he was not welcome in London, because it had been “ethnically cleansed of English people”. 

 

Thursday, October 23^rd, 2009

Boris Johnson may be a Tory, but his stock has just risen a little in my estimation.

The moral question aside, there will also inevitably be many people, who like music, but loathe racism, who will not wish to set foot in a pub, which has allowed Fascists to hold meetings. I would not. It is a drag, but I believe that in the long run, you will do far greater damage to yourselves by trying to hang on to this gig. It will offend those who are black, gay or who are deliberately targeted by these political boot boys. I would send out an SOS to local trade union or Labour clubs. I would not want to face my black, gay, Muslim or Jewish friends  if I had to tell them that I had been gigging in a pub which Fascists meet in. They trust me more than that. Do you want to enter any premises, which under any circumstances, deems any of your friends as unfit to enter? Quite apart from that, the basis of trust and goodwill between you and the landlord has now gone. You just do not do business with people like that.



 

I run my own business and would happily deny myself trade from BNP members seeking my services. 

I hope you can find another venue for Sunday, guys.  If not, and I were you, I'd be obliged to ditch The Monkwood and reschedule AR 5.  I'm sure the artists you have booked will fully understand. 
 

Hello Richard

I caught up yesterday with the Monkwood  shennanigans and I thought you'd played a blinder in helping to co-ordinate responses to the woeful landlord's favour-currying with the grossly sinister Griffinites, and in bringing about his apparent change of mind. You and everyone who made their feelings clear showed guts and integrity - and it's almost laughable now to hear the reasons for his bare-faced lie. The trade he will lose as a result of his actions will certainly include mine and I shall be passing the word around wherever I go.

What folk do on sunday is entirely up to them and I'm sorry it's taken me for one so long to book a spot with you but I regret to say that I will no longer be able to attend. And I'm really sorry that you've been put in such an invidious position by these underhand means. The fact that people will be travelling from distances to share musical fellowship and solidarity in the spirit that the Mashers have fostered in recent times is indeed a pity, but it seems to me that those underpinning human values that the music represents are more important, and I would feel a hypocrite singing my own stuff in such an environment.

Clearly for some people it's a question of everyone entitled to their opinion but to me it's more serious than that. There's an agression, a violence and a whole murky history of bullying and intimidation behind BNPness, all of  which I'm against. I'm also of course the child of immigrants to this country.

So I hope you'll forgive my dissassociation from sunday's event - the Mashers are a fine example to us all in terms of commitment to local talent, creativity, organisation and performance and I shall be happy to go out of my way on some other occasion - as soon as possible - to support you and your activities - possibly at Transport club or wherever you like (you might tell me to sod off of course) but at the moment I'm flying a flag for Folk against Fascism and for me that means not playing the Monkwood.

Best to you and yours, and congratulations for all you're doing for music, this is a mere distasteful blip

Ray Hearne






 

We've put it into The Queens Ray - and I already surmised that you would not want anything to do with the event.

So please, please come to the queens at the same time.