A petition signed by figures such as the actor Hugh Bonneville and the activist Greta Thunberg has been circulating in support of Misan Harriman, the celebrated photographer and chair of the Southbank Centre in London, over what the letter describes as “a dishonest smear campaign” against him.
Over the past week, articles in the The Daily Telegraph and other right-wing news outlets have zoned in on comments he made about the Golders Green attack of 29 April—which saw two Jewish men stabbed in the street in the predominantly Jewish area of north London—and the success of Reform in the UK’s local elections last week (7 May).
The controversy stems from two episodes: firstly, a social media post by the MP Ayoub Khan that Harriman shared, and commented on, in the wake of the Golders Green knife attack. A third, Muslim man had been stabbed by the same attacker earlier in the day, and Harriman argued that this fact had been less reported by the press.
This online comment then formed the basis for an article in The Daily Telegraph pushing back against the assertion that the third stabbing had not been reported.
The second episode was a five-minute, 40-second video that Harriman put on Instagram after the UK’s local elections. Reflecting on the rise of the right-wing Reform party, he cited a conversation between the writers Kurt Vonnegut and Susan Sontag about the Holocaust in which Sontag reportedly said 10% of any given population were cruel, 10% were merciful, and 80% could be persuaded into either category. This was picked up by right-wing activists and politicians online, who alleged that Harriman was equating the rise of Reform to the Holocaust, and its supporters to Nazi sympathisers. Media outlets responded to the allegations, with one Telegraph article headlined: “Southbank Centre chief ‘compares Reform victory to Holocaust’”.
Other critics included Karen Pollock, the chief executive of Holocaust Educational Trust, who said: “How on earth could yesterday’s election results ever be comparable to the Holocaust?”
Harriman has denied that his comments made those equivalences.
In response to the articles carrying the allegations, nearly 70,000 people filed complaints to the editors of the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and others via the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)—the largest campaign in the organisation’s history.
Reaction has been swift for Harriman across the cultural and political sectors too. More than 15,000 people have signed the celebrity-backed petition, posted by the Good Law Project. In a social media post, the poet Michael Rosen called it a clear example of cancellation; the MP Dianne Abbott voiced her support, calling him a “highly respected and influential Black man”; and the broadcaster Mehdi Hasan asked The Telegraph to apologise for the “shameful smear”. A parliamentary letter of support for Harriman, sent to the UK culture minister Lisa Nandy on 12 May, has been signed by more than a dozen other UK MPs.
Harriman, on social media, said he has been moved by the level of support: “I cannot thank everyone individually but please know that this means so much.”
“We have reached the point where truth itself is being crushed by the very institutions that are supposed to uphold it,” he said in a separate statement to the media. “I will never whisper about the oppressed. I stand with truth, I stand by my right to use my voice to help others.”
However, others have cautioned against Harriman’s statements, questioning whether it is appropriate for the head of a charity organisation to have a public political stance.
According to comments reported in the Daily Telegraph, David Taylor, a Labour MP from Hemel Hempstead, said, “Antisemitism under the cover of solidarity with the Palestinian cause has been rife within the arts for too long, that needs to change now. In the spirit of the prime minister’s words this week, Arts Council England should reconsider their funding arrangement with the Southbank Centre, and the Southbank Centre should consider removing Mr Harriman from the board.”
The Southbank Centre, of which Harriman has been chair since 2021, has distanced itself from the issue. It issued a statement saying that the Harriman’s personal views do not represent that of the organisation and that it “condemns all forms of anti-Semitism, hatred and discrimination”.
