Jeremy Corbyn to give Salter Lecture at Hamilton House
'Quaker Socialist Society discerned that Jeremy would be their speaker, and another Quaker body discerned he couldn’t be. Both discernments were leadings of the spirit, recognised as legitimate and valuable.’
Following concerns from within Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) about inviting Jeremy Corbyn to speak at Friends House during Yearly Meeting, the Quaker Socialist Society (QSS) has decided to invite him to deliver this year’s Salter Lecture at an alternative venue.
It will now take place at Hamilton House, with Quaker Paul Ingram, an expert on global nuclear disarmament, joining the former leader of the Labour Party.
‘QSS very much regrets the decision regarding our plan for a Salter Lecture on “War and Peace”,’ said QSS in a statement.
‘We are disappointed that this will not be allowed to take place in Friends House with Jeremy Corbyn as one of the speakers. Since we still wish to hear both Paul Ingram and Jeremy Corbyn discuss the peaceful resolution of conflict, we will arrange to hold the 2024 lecture in another venue.’
According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the former Labour Party leader had presided over ‘unlawful’ anti-Semitic harassment within the party. When he claimed this finding was ‘dramatically overstated’, he was suspended. In the light of these events, BYM trustees deemed that his appearance at YM would put BYM programmes and staff at reputational risk.
The recommendation was accepted by the Yearly Meeting Agenda Committee (YMAC), which asked QSS to arrange for the Salter Lecture to be given by Paul Ingram alone, or to ‘make alternative arrangements… that may include Jeremy Corbyn as a speaker. This could be at the time of Yearly Meeting [at another venue] or at another time’.
The minute noted that BYM’s work in Israel and Palestine ‘is particularly vulnerable at this time, and that this work may be put at critical risk by the conversations that we would expect to arise around a lecture… including Jeremy Corbyn as a speaker’.
Sheila Taylor of QSS said that the issue had raised ‘important questions about Quaker decision making’, following seven months of discussion between QSS and ‘various Quaker management bodies’. ‘Quakers are non-hierarchical, but we have decision-making bodies. We delegate power and though we struggle to admit it, there are more “weighty” Quakers within delegated bodies. Is it inevitable that some are more significant than others?
‘We use discernment to reach collective decisions, but one Quaker body might discern one thing and another discern the opposite. Who is then to judge what is right? QSS discerned that Jeremy would be their speaker, and another Quaker body discerned he couldn’t be. Both discernments were leadings of the spirit, recognised as legitimate and valuable.’
Sheila Taylor also highlighted that QSS, as a Quaker Recognised Body, is ‘officially independent’. ‘However some Friends consider that if QSS holds an event at the time of Yearly Meeting, the content will be seen as official Quaker policy. This is contradictory: are Quaker Recognised Bodies independent or not?’
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.