Activists are planning to show the controversial film about Jeremy Corbyn at Glastonbury Festival tonight despite an earlier decision by the festival organisers to cancel it.
Reel News, an activist video collective, wrote on Twitter that Oh Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie would be shown at 9pm on Thursday night in the “Green Futures Field”.
The Board of Deputies had expressed "deep concern" over the film, accusing it of spreading “hateful conspiracy theories” about the former Labour leader’s time in office.
Board President Marie van der Zyl wrote a letter to Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis urging them to cancel the screening, which it did on Monday.
Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis (left) and Jeremy Corbyn on stage at the 2017 festival (Photo: Getty)
According to Platform Films - which made the film but is not known to have any connection with Reel News - Corbyn was a victim of a "concerted smear campaign" and that current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was "waging a witch-hunt in the party".
Norman Thomas, of Platform Films, said Monday's decision to cancel the screening was “disgraceful”.
In a statement shared with the PA news agency, Thomas blamed the cancellation on "vicious outside pressure".
He said: “An outside pressure group has declared war on our film. They wrote to the festival's sponsors... and whipped up huge storm of complaints about the film claiming, without any foundation whatsoever, that the film is antisemitic."
The film was shown despite outrage from Jewish groups (Photo: Jewish Chronicle)
A statement attributed to Glastonbury said: "Although we believe that the Pilton Palais booked this film in good faith, in the hope of provoking political debate, it's become clear that it is not appropriate for us to screen it at the festival.
"Glastonbury is about unity and not division, and we stand against all forms of discrimination."
The film is described as exploring “a dark and murky story of political deceit and outrageous antisemitic smears”.
The film’s contributors include the filmmaker Ken Loach, former MP Chris Wiliamson and sacked Bristol lecturer David Miller.
Also involved in the film is Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Corbyn who in 2005 authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration.
