Beau Séjour’s booking policy could be forced to change in the wake of the controversy sparked ahead of Katie Hopkins’ sell out show coming to Guernsey in May.
Her show on 13 May sold out months ago, after Express published a letter from a reader urging other people to boycott it.
In response, the Head of Recreation Services, which manages Beau Séjour, said the leisure centre “does not selectively choose which acts can and cannot hire its facilities” and that members of the public could “vote with their feet” if they did or did not like what was on offer there.
Deputy Jayne Ozanne is among those who are unhappy that Ms Hopkins will be appearing in Guernsey, in a publicly owned venue.
She asked the President of Education, Sport, and Culture – who has political responsibility for Beau Sejour – what he thought about “freedom of speech” in the States this week.
“It is not up to us to decide what people find entertaining,” said Deputy Paul Montague.
“Beau Sejour is being run as a business. It is not a school assembly, there was no invite to this entertainer to come over.”
It is not clear who booked the venue for Ms Hopkins, but she will be performing her ‘Free Range’ show as part of a wider tour.
The booking platform warns the show is strongly advised for 16+ attendees only and that anyone under 16 must be accompanied by an adult and that their attendance is “at the discretion of their parent or guardian”.
The show synopsis suggests a “cracking evening out with British funny woman, Katie Hopkins” is on offer.
“Katie is giving herself ‘FREE RANGE’ on all the usual targets: useless politicians, idiot celebrities and the morons in our midst,” it promises.
The controversial broadcaster has previously been convicted of libel and accused of hate crimes.
Deputy Ozanne asked Deputy Montague if it was right to put vulnerable members of the island community at risk from hate speech “where States owned venues are providing the platform”.
He maintained that it is not for politicians to get involved in what people choose as entertainment, but he did say that booking policies are being reviewed as a result of the feedback since the Katie Hopkins show was announced.
“I would ask that we consider this very carefully,” said Deputy Montague.
“It is entirely inappropriate for an assembly such as ours to descend into a culture war issue on this. We need to treat the concerns of vulnerable people very, very seriously, but I believe it’s consistent with democratic principles and individual freedom that people should be allowed to book a venue in the States of Guernsey.
“Freedom of expression protects not only popular and agreeable views, but also those that many people strongly oppose. So preventing a so called entertainer from hiring a public venue risks setting a precedent where access is determined by political opinion rather than rule of law.
“I will finish by saying that we are asking officers to look again at the booking policy. It will be entirely wrong for every booking to be elevated to a political decision but we need some robust and really carefully thought through principles to avoid any contentious issues in the future.”
Pushed again on what safeguards would be offered to vulnerable people using Beau Séjour while the show is underway, Deputy Montague said again that he does not feel it is right for the States to dictate what entertainment people choose for themselves.
“We are talking about something badged as entertainment. It is not a political rally,” he said.
“Beau Séjour has a theatre, and people will be going to that theatre if they bought tickets for this particular piece of entertainment. I do not see how there is a safety issue here. People may feel vulnerable and may feel concerned. We might get upset when we read about these comments online, and we might feel uncomfortable knowing that maybe our neighbour has booked a ticket, but I don’t think it is the responsibility of this assembly to judge what people find entertaining. I do not think there is a really clear safety issue here.
“I am open to persuasion,” he added. “I think this is an issue that may need some more discussion, but I would like to know what the safety issues are. It is badged as entertainment. People will buy tickets. They will go to listen to some things, and then they will go home.”