A Live Comedy Association rep defamed me as racist on Twitter (purely because I've voted Tory). It cost me work. Instead of deleting the tweet, the LCA sent me this letter confirming I'm not racist. It's as much use as a babysitter having a letter confirming they're not a paedo

Full story: A couple of weeks ago, I appeared on the Today show on BBC Radio 4 to talk about the lack of working class and right wing representation in BBC comedy, which draws a disproportionate amount of its talent from a small pool of privately educated Russell group graduates

(Russell is a category of university as well as comedian; ironically the Russell comedians had more plebian educations).
As a live comedian, my industry representation is the Live Comedy Association (LCA). Their Representation and Inclusion rep, Saima Ferdows, might reasonably be

expected to support my calls for better representation and inclusion in BBC comedy. Instead she smeared me on twitter as a racist (despite never having met me or spoken to me) based on the fact that, like most of the country, I'm right wing (despite our Tory govt having the most

ethnically diverse cabinet in history).
In the wake of the BLM protests, accusing someone of racism in a culture that assumes guilt is hugely damaging. Her accusation was circulated through the industry and many bookers and promoters unfollowed me on social media or openly told

me I was blacklisted. I've lost work because of this, and my reputation has been damaged.
I raised this with the LCA, requesting that Saima delete her defamatory tweet. The LCA dismissed my complaint saying Saima posted in her personal capacity.

This implies that previous LCA reps who resigned due to misdeeds were offending in their official capacity. Instead of deleting the tweet, the LCA made reps update Twitter bios to say it's personal opinion, and issued me with a bizarre letter saying that they don't as an

organisation consider me to be racist (presumably they only think this as individuals). This will be as reassuring to promoters as a letter confirming that I'm not a paedophile would be to someone looking for a babysitter.
Ironically, they circulated a code of conduct for the

comedy community which forbids harassment of someone based on their beliefs, despite the fact that their rep harassed and defamed me based on my (mainstream and moderate) political beliefs. So they don't adhere to their own code of conduct.
Are the LCA fulfilling their remit to

represent and support live comedy? When comedian Darius Davies solicited their support after Kae Kurd performed his material on the Jonathan Ross show, instead of helping Darius, they conspired against him by forwarding correspondence to Kae's agents. The LCA solely serves the

very people who don’t need live comedy. It’s a body for Oxbridge producers and directors who lost influence and income due to the fringe being cancelled and consider club comedy to be dirty.
Am I racist? Prior to comedy, as an ACPO accredited criminal intelligence analyst I

developed analytical techniques to reduce racial bias in criminal intelligence. I'm from a mixed race family, my partner is of Indian Muslim heritage and living in London my friends are as diverse as any Benetton advert or televised comedy lineup. They're certainly more diverse

than the LCA, which appears to be overwhelmingly white. Perhaps Saima could put her own house in order and appoint Darius, who is BAME, to the LCA?
Just to be clear, I'd never met Saima or had any contact with her. She knows very little about me. She made up her mind to smear me

based on the fact that I'm not left wing. That's prejudice. There's a liberal witch hunt in the arts against anyone who doesn't kowtow to the woke narrative. The cultural power is held by woke liberals and anyone who stands up against it will be sent to the metaphorical gulags.