Free speech: Comedy club blocks MP's show due to gender critical views

A comedy club in Edinburgh is under fire for cancelling a show involving gender critical MP Joann Cherry.

The Stand, which runs the biggest comedy shows during Edinburgh's Fringe festival, made its decision after staff said they would not be comfortable working at Ms Cherry's show.

The MP for Edinburgh South West has been outspoken on women's rights in recent years and decried controversial Scottish government legislation on "gender recognition".

Ms Cherry is thought to be considering legal action against The Stand, on the basis it directly discriminated against her on the grounds of her philosophical beliefs.

At the weekend, Harry Potter author JK Rowling - another outspoken defender of women's rights - leapt to Ms Cherry's defence, accusing The Stand of "modern McCarthyism".

Ms Cherry told Times Radio: “This is what happens to women like me. We are constantly misrepresented and it leads to us being discriminated against now.

"I’m someone in public life, [a] fairly powerful and privileged woman. If this could happen to me, just think how much more likely it is that it has to happen to women who have less power now.”

She added that in the current climate, anyone "who doesn’t subscribe to gender identity ideology is losing the ability to have a public platform and in some cases losing their ability to earn a living”.