Festival organiser spoke to BBC earlier – this is what he mentionedrevealed at 14:50 BST
Earlier at this time – earlier than Wireless was cancelled – the managing director of the competition’s organiser Festival Republic mentioned Kanye West’s visa to enter the UK had been “issued in the last few days”.
“He has a visa already issued to appear, to come into the country, and the home secretary may well rescind that today, I don’t know,” Melvin Benn informed BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “If she [Shabana Mahmood] does, she does, and then the issue is over in terms of his appearance.”
Hours later, as we now know, the government determined to ban West from entering the UK.
During his interview with Today, Benn additionally mentioned Jewish communities had determined in opposition to assembly West: “We have reached out and they’ve refused to meet him.”
However, a Board of Deputies spokesperson informed the BBC: “Neither the Board of Deputies nor, we understand, the Jewish Leadership Council has refused any request to meet with the Wireless festival organisers.
“When the Board of Deputies acquired a letter from Melvin Benn on 6 April, proposing to fulfill, in response to a letter we despatched setting out our issues, we responded positively. In any occasion we’re clear that the invitation to Kanye West to carry out must be rescinded.”
