The Royal College of GPs has withdrawn an invitation to the journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer, who was asked to attend its annual conference, after hundreds of family doctors signed a petition calling for her to be barred from attending the event.
The professional body said it had written to Hartley-Brewer withdrawing her invitation to speak. “It has become clear that some of the views she has expressed are too much at odds with the core values of Royal College of GPs and our members, and our work to promote inclusivity within the profession and among patients,” a spokesperson said.
Hundreds of family doctors had called for the college to withdraw the invitation. A petition, signed by 729 medical practitioners, read: “This person [Julia Hartley-Brewer] has expressed views that are highly controversial regarding immigration and expressed that she could not see anything in the ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech that he [Enoch Powell] had got wrong.”
Siema Iqbal, a GP, said giving a platform to Hartley-Brewer, a TalkRadio presenter and Telegraph columnist, was “shocking”.
She added: “What is equally frightening is the attempted justification given for inviting her – that her mother was a GP. It made no sense.
“I welcome the decision the RCGPs has taken to withdraw her invitation as her views are divisive, hateful and do not represent the diversity the medical profession represents. As an organisation I hope the college reflects on how the invitation was extended to Julia in the first place.”
Earlier this month Dr Tehseen Khan, a doctor from east London, wrote for the medical website Pulse, saying he would leave the RCGPs if Hartley-Brewer spoke at the conference.
He said: “I feel hurt by the decision made by the RCGP and have signed Dr Alan Woodall’s courageous petition. I really hope to stay a member of the college, but will not continue if this individual takes part at conference.”
The RCGPs is the professional membership body for family doctors in the UK and overseas.
In a statement, Hartley-Brewer said: “The Twitter offence archaeologists who have decided it’s my turn for the Two Minutes of Hate have based their outrageous claims about me on just one half of a tweet I posted in 2016 during an online conversation about Enoch Powell.
“They chose to omit the start of the tweet in which I clearly stated ‘I am not defending Powell’.
“My tweet was about the accuracy of Enoch Powell’s predictions about future immigration levels and likely racial tensions, not a moral judgement endorsing his views.
“Given that Dr Alan Woodall, who started the petition, has repeatedly posted extreme views in tweets accusing Brexiteers of being ‘alt-right’, ‘racists’ and ‘brownshirts’, I have no doubt that his campaign against me is politically motivated by his Remain stance.
“I am embarrassed for the doctors who want to no-platform me – and I am even more mortified for the RCGP for caving into their pathetic demands.”
