More than 245 back Misan Harriman at Southbank Centre
More than 245 people have signed an open letter backing Misan Harriman, the southbank centre chair who was attacked over comments and social media activity tied to Golders Green and Reform voters. Greta Thunberg, Tracey Emin and Gary Lineker are among the signatories. The dispute now sits squarely on a publicly funded arts institution, where board-level criticism can quickly become a wider test of how cultural figures are policed in public.
Greta Thunberg and Gary Lineker
More than 245 signatories gave the letter scale, not just sympathy. Several Jewish cultural figures joined them, including Benjamin Moser, Morgan Spector and Jillian Edelstein, which makes the response harder to dismiss as a simple line-up of Harriman allies.
The letter said that trying to silence responsible critics of Israel by smearing them as antisemitic does not protect Britain’s Jewish community. It also said that the purpose of the smear campaign was to traduce and marginalise Harriman, and that it was intended to send a message to others that if they speak out, they will be subject to harassment and threats.
Southbank Centre board since 2021
Harriman has chaired the Southbank Centre’s board of governors since 2021, so the row lands on someone already holding a senior public-facing role. That is why the language used against him has drawn such a sharp reaction from arts figures, journalists and campaigners around the same dispute.
The criticism began after The Telegraph accused Harriman of sharing a social media post containing a conspiracy about the Golders Green attack and questioned the amount of coverage given to the Muslim victim, Ishmail Hussein. David Taylor said the posts were incredibly inappropriate for the chair of a charity board and for anyone in the public eye, while Karen Pollock asked how yesterday’s election results could ever be comparable to the Holocaust.
Reform, Sontag and 53,000
Harriman also drew fire after quoting Susan Sontag in a video about Reform’s historic local election results. He said that in the context of yesterday’s election result, Sontag’s view was really topical, quoting her point that 10% of people in any population are cruel no matter what and 80% could be moved in either direction.
Robert Jenrick called Harriman’s post disgusting and said he should be removed from his position at the Southbank Centre. Harriman answered that he would never whisper about the oppressed and that he stood with truth, while a campaign to lobby the press regulator Ipso about the coverage drew support from 53,000 people. The immediate pressure is now on the arts institution to absorb the fallout from a row that has become as much about public culture as about one post.
