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Islington MP Emily Thornberry “disgusted” by Fabric closure, as support continues to swell

By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 12 September 2016

Islington MP Emily Thornberry has said that she is “disgusted” by the actions of the police in getting Fabric’s licence revoked by Islington Council last week. Meanwhile, the Musicians’ Union has also offered support to the club and producer Four Tet says he has been invited to discuss the situation with London mayor Sadiq Khan.

Fabric’s local MP Thornberry was critical of police and the local council prior to last week’s licence review, and remained so in a new statement posted on Friday, saying that the decision to close down the venue “sets a worrying precedent at a time when we are already losing many of our nightclubs”.

“A whole generation of young people across Europe have come to Fabric, this is a generation that is hardly ever represented by politicians”, she wrote on Facebook. “We middle-aged politicians should try to understand it from the perspective of young people. I have been disgusted by the police’s attitude in this. The suggestion that Fabric should change its name and music was wrong. Should there be an approved Met Police playlist, with Bryan Adams or something?”

She added: “There is no room to be complacent about the recent deaths [at the venue], nobody should go on a night out and not come home. However, the truth is that we are not going to stamp out drug use. We have to be realistic about this and I think Fabric has had good practice and has been better at this than other nightclubs. Closing Fabric is not the answer”.

Thornberry is backing Fabric’s campaign to have the decision overturned, as are three Islington councillors, according to the Islington Tribune. “The closure of Fabric is a huge loss for young people and Londoners across the capital, not to mention the 250 people whose jobs are at risk”, said one such councillor, Caroline Russell. “I hope that a sensible solution can be found that keeps people safe from drug harm and ensures the future of Fabric as a centre of creativity and energy in our city”.

As previously reported, the Night Time Industries Association is launching a fund to raise £500,000 towards Fabric’s legal costs as it sets out to appeal last week’s decision. Unlike last time it was forced to fight the council in court, on this occasion it will have to do so while not operating as a going concern, making covering the costs of appealing all the more difficult on its own.

Though as well as appealing the final decision to revoke its licence, Fabric could also appeal to the High Court to overturn the initial decision to temporarily suspend its licence, which would then allow it to reopen pending the outcome of the main appeal.

While this all goes through the motions, the Musicians’ Union issued a statement in support of Fabric last week. The organisation’s National Organiser For Live Performance, Dave Webster, said: “Whatever the problems venues are facing, systematically closing them down simply pushes the problem somewhere else. The problem remains but the venue closes. It’s not an effective solution. Venue owners are often hamstrung by their licensing conditions. Let’s hope [London’s] Night Time Commission and the newly appointed Night Czar can effect some significant changes in attitude towards this issue”.

How quickly London’s new City Hall-based Night Czar will be appointed, and what they will be able to do with regard to Fabric’s situation, remains unclear – mayor Sadiq Khan having already said that City Hall does not have the power to intervene in the licence review. However, Khan seemingly remains serious about his commitment to London’s struggling night time industry – Four Tet, aka Kieran Hebden, revealing last week that he has been called in for a meeting after he reached out about last week’s Fabric decision.

After sending a private message to Khan on Twitter, Hebden tweeted last week: “Sadiq Khan has DMed me back now and invited me to City Hall to share my views on Fabric and London club situation”.

Exact details of that meeting are yet to be announced, though Hebden also tweeted that he’s in turn invited Khan to his upcoming sold out all-nighters at Brixton Academy in October.

Presumably the police and Islington Council weren’t expecting Fabric to go quietly, though it seems likely that they underestimated quite how loud the fallout from this would be. Listen to more discussion on the Fabric story on our CMU Podcast Summer Special here.