CULTURE Secretary Angus Robertson has refused to be drawn on the Stand Comedy Club’s decision to cancel a show involving his SNP colleague Joanna Cherry. 

The venue axed the Fringe event after a number of "key operational staff, including venue management and box office personnel" said they were unwilling to work on the event because of “concerns about Ms Cherry's views.”

The decision sparked a furious row, with supporters of the Edinburgh South West MP, criticising the comedy club. 

Harry Potter author JK Rowling, suggested the politician was the victim of “modern McCarthyism.”

Others defended the venue, with trade union Unite praising the club for listening to the "legitimate and serious concerns of our members." 

On Tuesday morning, Ms Cherry refused to rule out legal action, telling the BBC she was considering all options. 

READ MORE: Decision to cancel Joanna Cherry Fringe show 'plainly unlawful'

The Edinburgh South West MP has been a prominent opponent of the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill, particularly over plans to allow transgender people to legally change their sex without the need for medical diagnosis, often referred to as self-ID.

The Stand was founded by one of Ms Cherry’s parliamentary colleagues, Tommy Sheppard. He stepped back from the day-to-day running of the club after his election in 2015, but is still a director of parent company, Salt N Sauce Promotions. 

Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland, Mr Robertson said that the threat of legal action meant he could not comment. 

“If you'll forgive me, I'm not going to land myself right in the middle of a live issue where some people are saying that they don't want or are unable to go forward with an event. And there are others saying there's a legal requirement for that to take place.”

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Tory MSP Murdo Fraser took to Twitter to call the minister’s answer “utterly pathetic and spineless.”

“Utterly pathetic and spineless from @AngusRobertson on #BBCgms refusing to speak up for his SNP colleague @joannaccherry on the basis that her situation is subject to legal action. It’s not. He’s a coward.”.

The Stand is in Mr Robertson's Edinburgh Central constituency. He became the MSP for the area after a controversial selection battle in 2020 saw Ms Cherry effectively prevented from standing.

The party's national executive said any MP hoping to make the move to Holyrood would first have to resign their Westminster seat, a decision Ms Cherry claimed was timed to deliberately "hobble" her campaign.

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Ms Cherry was also on BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday morning, taking part in the station’s phone in show. 

She claimed many SNP politicians shared her concerns over gender recognition laws but were “just going along with self-ID for a quiet life."

The MP said: "Public opinion is with me on that. Many of my SNP colleagues agree with me, they are just afraid to speak out.

"I've had a lot of private discussions with MP and MSPs and many party members. But they have seen what has happened to me ever since I spoke out in favour of women's and lesbian rights.

Asked to go further, she added: "There is a lot of controversy in the Scottish National Party at the moment, and I don't want to add to it.

"But one day I hope to be in a position to be able to tell the full story of what has gone on behind the scenes in my political party since I stood up for the rights of lesbians and for women's right to safety, dignity and privacy."

Ms Cherry pointed to the Gender Recognition Reform Bill debate in Holyrood before December where nine MSPs voted against the government 

She said: "We did have a very substantial rebellion on the issue before Christmas when a number of my colleagues did speak out on the issue.

"But I know for a fact there are many others who are just going along with self-ID for a quiet life."

Ms Cherry said she hoped The Stand's management and staff would agree her to meet with her to understand "her actual views, rather than a distorted version of them".

She added: "I would hope The Stand would see sense as a result of the public outcry. There's months to go until the Festival and I would hope The Stand could sort this out."

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In a statement released yesterday, The Stand said: "Following extensive discussions with our staff it has become clear that a number, including venue management and box office personnel, were unwilling to work this event.

"As we have previously stated, we will ensure that their views are respected.

"We will not compel our staff to work on this event and so have concluded that the event is unable to proceed on a properly staffed, safe and legally compliant basis.

"We advised the show producers, Fair Pley Productions, of this operational issue and they advised Joanna Cherry is it no longer possible to host the event in our venue."

Ms Cherry was backed by Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton 

She said: “The fact that a club owned by one SNP MP – Tommy Sheppard – should have cancelled another, for her legitimate concerns over the GRR Bill, underlines just how toxic the party’s civil war has become.

“The Stand has happily given a platform to extremist politicians with abhorrent views, such as Jeremy Corbyn, yet, inexplicably, is refusing to let Joanna Cherry voice her fears – shared by the majority of Scots – that this reckless bill threatens the safety of women and girls.

“Tommy Sheppard’s club received substantial amounts of public money during Covid and many people will be dismayed that it has taken this stance, which Joanna Cherry and others have argued may well be unlawful.

“Whatever views people have on this sensitive issue, it cannot be acceptable to shut down free speech.”

There was support for the comedy club from the Unite Hospitality trade union. They said: “We are pleased that @StandComedyClub have listened to the legitimate and serious concerns of our members, their workers and acted accordingly.”

However, Adam Tomkins, Professor of Public Law at the University of Glasgow School of Law, pointed to the recent court ruling that led to Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus (SEC) being ordered to pay almost £100,000 in damages to a US evangelical preacher, Franklin Graham after it axed an event following concerns about his controversial views on gay rights, Islam and Donald Trump.

"I think it's straightforwardly unlawful," he told the BBC. "It looks to me like a really rather uncomplicated case of direct discrimination.

"Because if you make a decision, which is made on the basis that you disagree with somebody's philosophical beliefs, and being gender critical - as Joanna Cherry is - is recognised in law as a philosophical belief, then you are discriminating against them.

"And it's as if you were discriminating against them on the basis of their religion.

"There's no distinction in the law between religious discrimination and discrimination on the basis of philosophical belief.

"So it looks as if The Stand made a decision to cancel Joanna Cherry's event on the basis of their disagreement with her philosophical belief. That's a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, and therefore it's direct discrimination and unlawful."