At Calne Town Council’s Full Council meeting on Monday 23rd June, dual-hatted Wiltshire Unitary and Calne Town Councillor Augusta Urquhart-Nicholls, Reform UK, criticised the Town Council’s decision to cancel a private booking for an event featuring right-wing commentator Carl Benjamin last Friday.
Cllr Urquhart-Nicholls delivered a speech strongly criticising the cancellation. "It is no secret I am deeply disappointed by the council's decision to censor this event, in a healthy democracy, freedom of speech is not just a right to speak, it is the right to listen.
"The public deserve the opportunity to hear diverse propsectives and be trusted to make up their own minds.
"Reform are here now, we have been elected, did you really think I would make this easy for you?"
While distancing herself and her party from Mr Benjamin personally, she described the decision as part of a broader attack on free expression.
“I would defend to the death the principle of free speech,” said Cllr Urquhart-Nicholls, invoking the example of BNP leader Nick Griffin’s 2009 appearance on BBC’s Question Time as a case where open debate helped discredit extreme views. “Bad ideas are best defeated in the open,” she argued.
Cllr Urquhart-Nicholls went on to criticise Conservative councillors Cllrs Orrey Pike and Bobby Seymour — who had previously raised concerns about the booking — accusing them of being “Conservatives-in-name-only.”
She warned, “Do you not see that the same forces trying to silence those to your right are coming for you next?”
She also linked the issue to recent Conservative losses in the local elections, attributing voter dissatisfaction to what she described as a political class that “seeks to shut down debate.”
Calne News contacted Conservative councillors - Cllr Bobby Seymour and Cllr Orrey Pike for comment.
Cllr Seymour said: “My concern is not about denying anyone the right to express political views, but about the appropriateness of using a civic space to platform a speaker whose past remarks have been misogynistic and have trivialised sexual harm against women.
"I am sure there are more appropriate venues for this kind of event. However, I would point out that their party leader would not be a fan of an event with Carl Benjamin.”
Cllr Pike echoed those concerns in a formal written statement: “This is not about left- or right-wing ideology, nor is it about silencing anyone. It is about whether a publicly funded civic building should host a speaker whose record includes hateful, harmful, and divisive rhetoric.”
He referenced past controversies involving Mr Benjamin, including a tweet to MP Jess Phillips stating, “I wouldn’t even rape you,” as well as his reported use of racial and homophobic slurs and involvement in the Gamergate harassment campaign.
“Many of the private platforms that once hosted him—Patreon, YouTube, and others—have since removed or restricted his access due to breaches of community standards. If they can uphold those standards, we must ask ourselves: why should a public civic venue lower them?”
Cllr Pike concluded that freedom of speech must be weighed against public safety and civic responsibility: “I do not believe this event would foster healthy debate. More likely, it would inflame tensions and damage the standing of our Town Hall as a place of civic unity.”
Related article: Calne Town Council cancels event featuring controversial speaker Carl Benjamin
Want to know what’s on in Calne? Visit our local events page for listings and to find out how to add your own events for free. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news. Have you got a story for us? Email editor@calnenews.com.
