Morecambe Fringe hits back after Jewish groups' plea over showing of ‘grossly offensive’ Jeremy Corbyn film

Oh Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie is a 2023 documentary film about the former British Labour Party leader and documents his time as the leader of the Labour Party, internal struggles in the party, and accusations of anti-semitism.

But the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region have urged Morecambe Fringe to cancel The Big Lie in line with Glastonbury Festival and several other venues due to the fact it is ‘grossly offensive and has the potential to incite racism towards British Jews’.

Festival organiser Matt Panesh said: “I will still be showing the film despite being strongly urged to cancel it because it has broken no law.

“Edinburgh Fringe came up with a vision of giving anyone a stage and everyone a seat.

“I have been approached by the Campaign against Antisemitism's (CAA) Director of Investigations and Enforcement who asked me to cancel the film.

“I responded that unless the film was illegal we would show it, it has the right to be shown.

“If it can be defined as hate speech, then the law, and by extension, the legal system is in place to deal with it.

"I am not the arbiter of taste.

"Fringe shows can be outrageous, shocking, borderline indecent, sometimes even boring but always legal.

"We have the rule of law.

"And people have the right to expression, the right to see it and judge for themselves, and also, if it's not to their taste, the right to peaceful protest.”

Earlier this week Matt Panesh said they had a Pantomime Dame reading children's stories which people protested against.

Matt said: "In my opinion, Mama G is wonderful. There were people who thought that Pantomime Dames shouldn't read stories to children, so they decided to protest the event and did so quite peacefully, with no disturbance.

"It's not unusual for Fringe festivals to be in this position, and this is the line we have to take.

"Freedom of expression within the confines of the law, and the right to peaceful protest.”

Marc Levy, chief executive of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region, said: “I strongly urge the Morecambe Fringe to follow the Glastonbury

Festival and several other venues who have taken the decision to cancel The Big Lie.

“The film is grossly offensive and has the potential to incite racism towards British Jews by blaming them for Jeremy Corbyn’s defeat.

"These are dangerous conspiracy theories that will inevitably lead to hostility towards Jewish people across the region.

“We hope that the organisers listen to our concerns as they would any other minority community.”

MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale David Morris said: “I am extremely disappointed that the Morecambe Fringe Festival is giving a platform to antisemitic racism.

“This is not what Morecambe is, we are a tolerant and welcoming community and racism has no place in our society.

"I would urge the organisers to reconsider showing this abhorrent film which has no place in Morecambe and urge them to speak to members of our Jewish community to better understand the hurt that perpetuating the myths included in this film has caused.”

Tickets for “Oh Jeremy Corbyn; The Big Lie” to be shown on Thursday, July 27 have already sold out and Morecambe Fringe Festival organisers plan to have an extra showing on Wednesday.