Jazz lecturer cancelled for criticising BLM Was ‘Not Racist’, Employer Says
18th February 2026
A jazz lecturer whose lessons were boycotted after he questioned critical race theory is not a racist, a leading conservatoire has admitted.
Martin Speake, 67, said his life was “destroyed” after students at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich, south-east London, avoided his lessons because of his views.
The internationally renowned saxophonist was “cancelled” for claiming there was no “systemic” racial inequality in British jazz and that critical race theory was “very dangerous”.