An update on Morrissey‘s website has revealed that he recently declined an invitation to perform at Reform UK’s party conference.
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The post was shared last Friday (September 5), and read: “Morrissey politely declined an invitation for ‘Morrissey and his band’ to ‘perform’ at this week’s Reform Conference in Birmingham.”
That event saw party leader Farage take aim at the current Labour government, which he said was “fracturing and dividing into two”, as well as reaffirm aims to “stop the boats […] and deport those who illegally break into our country,” per The Guardian.
The brief statement on Morrissey’s website concluded by saying he was “apolitical” and had never “joined a political party – or voted – in his entire life”, though he was “thankful for the invitation”.
However, his perceived proximity to the far-right made headlines as far back as 2016, when he hailed the Brexit result as “magnificent” and called Farage a “liberal educator”.
Following the comments, his former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr sought to distance himself from Morrissey’s beliefs, saying they didn’t have “much ideologically in common any more”.
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Later, in 2018, Morrissey said that he “despises” racism and fascism in an open letter that threw support behind the far-right party For Britain, which Anne Marie Waters formed following her departure from UKIP after Farage dubbed her and her supporters “Nazis and racists”.
Backlash continued in 2019 when Morrissey wore a badge featuring the logo of far-right anti-Islam political party For Britain during an appearance on Fallon, something he went on to address in an interview held by his nephew, Sam Etsy Rayner.
When asked by Rayner to clarify his political position, the musician says he had “never” been a supporter of UKIP or of Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, but said that “it’s obvious that [Farage] would make a good Prime Minister.”
He also maintained that he “absolutely” supports For Britain, saying: “The UK is a dangerously hateful place now, and I think we need someone to put a stop to the lunacy and to speak for everyone. I see [For Britain leader] Anne Marie Waters as this person. She is extremely intelligent, ferociously dedicated to this country, she is very engaging, and also very funny at times.”
When asked about being called a racist, Morrissey said: “If you call someone racist in modern Britain you are telling them that you have run out of words. You are shutting the debate down and running off. The word is meaningless now. Everyone ultimately prefers their own race … does this make everyone racist?”
News of his declined invite to the Reform conference follows him closing applications to buy his stake in The Smiths.
Last week, he’d taken to his website to share that he had “no choice but to offer for sale all of his business interests” in The Smiths to any potential investors or parties.
He explained in a statement: “I am burnt out by any and all connections to [Johnny] Marr, [Andy] Rourke, [Mike] Joyce. I have had enough of malicious associations. With my entire life I have paid my rightful dues to these songs and these images. I would now like to live disassociated from those who wish me nothing but ill-will and destruction, and this is the only resolution.”
A subsequent update shared that the email address has been “switched off” due to a “colossal response”.
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