The Stage

Writers’ Guild resurrects anti-censorship body to combat Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

Published Tuesday 23 August 2005 at 15:55 by Alistair Smith

Pressure on theatrical productions from radical religious groups such as Christian Voice has persuaded The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain to reopen its Anti-Censorship Committee.

The committee, which was set up in the sixties to offer support to writers confronted with attempts to censor their work, fell into disuse in the mid-nineties. But recent events surrounding controversial productions Jerry Springer - the Opera and Behzti, as well as the introduction of the government’s Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, have inspired the guild to relaunch it.

The organisation will also be putting forward a motion at the forthcoming Trade Union Congress, registering its opposition to the bill, which they fear will curb writers’ freedom of expression.

Lydia Rivlin, chairman of the new committee, said: “We have contacted various MPs with our fears. A highly-placed Labour minister has told us he thinks the bill is a ‘dangerous hotch-potch’, so we have support. A leading Muslim official has also told us he believed the bill would have prevented The Satanic Verses from being published.

“Writers are finding themselves in a very difficult situation. Religious pressure groups have recently started to use increasingly belligerent tactics to stifle expression, as can be seen by the riot which closed down a play in Birmingham in December [Behzti].”

The 12-person board’s next meeting is scheduled for November, with future meetings scheduled on an ad hoc basis to deal with issues as they arise. It is hoped that, if another incident like the Behzti riots was to occur, the guild would then be better prepared to offer a quick response.

Other arts unions including Equity and Bectu have been contacted to enlist their support for the committee. An Equity spokesperson confirmed that it had been in talks with the guild and would be supporting the motion at the TUC. He added: “We’ve contacted the minister and expressed our concern that the bill could create an atmosphere in which people are more afraid to take risks. Clearly a lot of our members, especially the comedians, are worried about this.”