Laurence Fox’s victory is a blow against the hypocrisies of luvviedom
When I joined Laurence Fox on a Question Time panel earlier this year, I had no clue that I’d booked myself a ringside seat in the culture wars. Walking offstage after a rowdy but (I thought) generally good-natured episode, the actor muttered: “Oh God, that’ll get me into trouble.” I couldn’t imagine what he’d said that was so controversial. Was it mocking the eco-hypocrisies of jetsetting celebs, or dismissing the idea that public anger about the Sussexes was predominantly driven by racism? Or perhaps his “radical” suggestion that the gender of Labour’s next leader mattered less than their policy agenda?
Even in these easily offended times, the backlash was astonishing. Unforgivably, the actors’ union Equity branded him a “disgrace” and urged their members to “denounce” him – all for expressing views shared by large swathes of the public. Two months later and, following the threat of legal action, Equity have finally issued an apology and agreed an out-of-court settlement.
This was not one of history’s most convincing apologies: the mealymouthed “I’m sorry if anyone was offended” type, beloved of politicians. Nor was it universally endorsed; members of Equity’s “Race Equality” panel have resigned in protest (the worthy Left can never resist a good subcommittee).
Yet the gesture, though grudging and feeble, sends a powerful message to the conformist creatives whose views have become a web of hypocrisies. In our topsy-turvy world, authoritarians masquerade as victims, and a union can engage in distinctly underhand behaviour while calling itself “Equity”. Though Fox’s views were dismissed as the ramblings of a “privileged white male”, it’s also clear from the veneration of other well-born thesps that “privilege” doesn’t matter if you hold the “right” opinion – take Hugh Grant or Benedict Cumberbatch. Even belonging to an acting dynasty is fine, provided it’s an aristocracy of Trotskyites such as the Redgraves.
Fox’s victory is doubly satisfying in a culture that often seems to give the Left unlimited licence to say abhorrent things, while zealously punishing Right-wingers for even the most anodyne remarks. Members of the great and the good have wished elderly Brexiteers dead, with no social repercussions whatsoever. Outing herself as “literally a communist” seems to have furthered the far-left commentator Ash Sarkar’s TV career – an unthinkable outcome had a Rightwinger proudly worn the mantle of fascism. Diane Abbott’s assertion that “Mao did more good than harm” did not prevent her from being promoted to the shadow cabinet.
Likewise, the individuals responsible for Equity’s missives, nestled safely beneath their union umbrella, can expect no real punishment for the damage they sought to inflict. Time will tell whether they have succeeded.
follow Madeline Grant on Twitter @Madz_grant; read more at telegraph.co.uk/opinion