A jazz tutor was “forced out” of one of Britain’s leading conservatoires after airing his opinion on critical race theory.
Martin Speake, 67, watched on as students at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich, south-east London, boycotted his lessons because of his views.
Mr Speake is an internationally renowned musician, but suggesting there was no “systemic” racial inequality in British jazz and that critical race theory was “very dangerous” saw him “cancelled”, he claims.
He is now taking the conservatoire to an employment tribunal for constructive dismissal, discrimination and harassment.
“My life is destroyed”, he told The Telegraph.
“I need to get some compensation for what they have done because none of this needed to happen. There is no other alternative to taking legal action. This is a huge injustice.
“It didn’t used to be like this at all and it is really disturbing. Climate change, transgender, race, Israel. There is apparently only one way to think and if you have any conflicting ideas, they will get rid of you.
“That’s what they’ve done with me.”
Mr Speake left Trinity Laban
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The controversy began in February 2024 when Mr Speake, who had been on the conservatoire’s staff for 24 years, submitted a detailed response to an internal request for feedback on a diversity action plan.
In his 1,170-word reply, he asserted that black musicians were “definitely not under-represented” in British jazz and characterised Black Lives Matter as “very dangerous”.
“The critical race theory stated by BLM states that racism is embedded in society, not only the product of individual bias and prejudice, but is entrenched in institutions,” he wrote. “I don’t believe this to be true.”
The email went unanswered by management. Mr Speake subsequently shared his views with a student, who then read the contents to classmates.
Students were boycotting Mr Speake’s lectures
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His teaching was promptly suspended after a student raised concerns.
“All my classes were halted because one student has gone in saying he doesn’t agree with what I’m saying,” Mr Speake recalled.
The conservatoire convened a meeting with its 95 jazz students, excluding Mr Speake from the discussion. He was then asked to circulate his email to the entire jazz department.
“Then it went nuts because the students put the email on social media,” he said. “I was very, very naive. I made a mistake, thinking it would remain internal.”
A petition demanding his immediate removal was launched. Students refused to attend his classes, while venues and orchestras severed ties with him. He also departed from teaching positions at the Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Trinity Laban issued a statement declaring it was “in awe” of the students’ “sense of community and solidarity with each other”.
Despite a counter-petition gathering more than 500 signatures in his defence, Mr Speake took stress-related sick leave in March 2024. Upon returning in September, students resumed their boycott and ignored him in corridors.
By November, the institution offered him an administrative role researching a potential master’s course. He declined, stating “that’s not what I’ve been doing for 35 years”, and resigned.
Mr Speake is pursuing two separate legal claims against his former employer: one for employment discrimination, alleging the conservatoire supported the student boycott rather than defending him, and another for constructive dismissal.
“I now have two legal cases against them,” he said. “They made it so untenable, I had to resign.”
The saxophonist is currently surviving on his state pension and proceeds from selling his late mother’s property. He has received backing from the Free Speech Union and the Performing Arts Fund, which assists artists facing professional consequences for lawful expression.
A preliminary tribunal hearing is scheduled for 6-8 May, with the full hearing set to begin on 3 August.
Trinity Laban has previously stated there were “multiple factual inaccuracies in Mr Speake’s account of events and their timeline” and maintained that “while institutionally we did not share his views, his rights to hold them were absolutely protected by us”.