‘Common sense has won the day’: Youth charity boss who was forced out by trustees for criticising BLM’s ‘neo-Marxist’ agenda says his reinstatement is a victory against ‘cancel culture’
- Nick Buckley has returned to his job as chief executive of Mancunian Way charity
- Mr Buckley was sacked after criticising far-Left agenda of Black Lives Matter UK
- Free Speech Union backed petition against sacking which got 17,500 signatures
An award-winning charity boss who was sacked after criticising the far-Left agenda of Black Lives Matter UK last night said ‘common sense has won the day’ after he was reinstated.
In a victory against a so-called ‘cancel culture’, Nick Buckley has returned to his job as chief executive of Mancunian Way after the charity’s board of four trustees resigned.
In a 570-word blog earlier this year, Mr Buckley – who was awarded an MBE for his ground-breaking work with youngsters in Manchester – warned of the ‘neo-Marxist’ policies of the Black Lives Matter UK campaign group, which include tearing down capitalism and abolishing the police.
Back in post: Nick Buckley with a homeless person in Manchester. In a victory against a so-called ‘cancel culture’, Nick Buckley has returned to his job as chief executive of Mancunian Way after the charity’s board of four trustees resigned
The Mail on Sunday revealed how he was dismissed after an online mob accused him of ‘inappropriate’ and ‘insensitive’ views and an online petition calling for him to be axed attracted 465 signatures.
The story prompted a rival petition calling for his reinstatement, which attracted more than 17,500 signatures.
Amid mounting pressure, Mancunian Way, which Mr Buckley founded nine years ago, issued a ‘mutually acceptable statement to avoid litigation’ on Thursday, confirming the trustees had quit and that a newly appointed board had asked the 52-year-old to return to his former role.
‘All trustees have made the decision to step down,’ the statement issued on Twitter said.
‘A new board of trustees have been appointed and they have chosen to ask Mr Buckley’s company, BNB services Ltd, to resume the provision of its support services.’
Last night, Mr Buckley said: ‘Common sense has won the day. This was an appalling situation to be in. This wasn’t me against Black Lives Matter, this was against this new ideology of cancel culture where if you say something that someone else doesn’t like, you are beyond the pale and you must go.’
He added: ‘I want to thank The Mail on Sunday because if it wasn’t for the article you did, I would never have got the support of the British public. And if I hadn’t had that support, I don’t think I would have had the energy or the courage to have fought back.’
He said he will now speak to the charity’s partners and funders to ‘get a better idea of what damage has potentially been caused by this mayhem in the last five weeks’.
Mr Buckley was supported by the Free Speech Union, which backed the counter-petition and found him top corporate lawyer Geoffrey Davies.
‘In their anxiety to be politically correct the trustees simply ignored their contractual obligations,’ said Mr Davies, from Keystone Law.
In his blog on June 6 – the day protesters clashed with police in Central London – Mr Buckley observed that the phrase Black Lives Matter ‘is far too simple but is perfect for our modern age of social media and the willingness of social justice warriors to take up another cause’.
The outgoing board denied its decision to terminate its relationship with Mr Buckley was based on his blog or the petition, but declined to say why it had chosen to remove him.
In a 570-word blog earlier this year, Mr Buckley – who was awarded an MBE for his ground-breaking work with youngsters in Manchester – warned of the ‘neo-Marxist’ policies of the Black Lives Matter UK campaign group, which include tearing down capitalism and abolishing the police. Protesters are seen outside the US embassy in London in June