Letter from Richard Parry of Freedom Press

I want to respond to this blog as a Friend of Freedom Press (FFP).  Firstly, the Articles and Memorandum of Association are public documents available on the Companies House website, they have never been hidden or secret.  Although AGMs are mandatory, the Articles provide that the “directors may meet together...as they see fit". There is no other provision for regular meetings but since our EGM on 30 March we have agreed we should meet at least quarterly.

Paragraph 8 of the blog misrepresents my letter of 3 March 2015; I said “If David Goodway and Peter Marshall wish to be involved in assisting Freedom Press please can you ask them to contact the Freedom Collective directly.”  This does not suggest the approval of the Collective; as you know David came to the AGM in June and was unanimously elected as a Director.  The blog says that Sonia Markham knew nothing of the letter of 3 March 2015 - and yet I sent it to her!  And she clearly knew nothing of Chris Draper’s letter to Steve Sorba of 20 February 2015.  I wrote to her:

“I have since spoken to Steve Sorba, the Company Secretary, and we have agreed that it might be a good idea to have a Director’s meeting to think about the future of the Friends and indeed of Freedom Press itself. Can you please let me know if you still want to be a Director and if so would you be interested in coming to a meeting at Freedom in the near future.” 

 I am pleased to say that Sonia responded positively and the criticism made by CD and Northern Voices was discussed by all 4 Directors at the EGM on 30 March 2015.  So if anyone was pushing to get FFP working it was me!

CD maintains that Sonia Markham was ‘the sole member to attempt to get a grip on the whole debacle’ - but in fact of course it was I who had tracked her down and spoken to Ernest Rodker, and encouraged them both to come to the meeting on 30 March. I also brought copies of the Articles and Memorandum to that meeting for everyone. Following my letter to Chris Draper, he had sent a letter to me, oddly ‘in a personal capacity’, dated 27 March 2015: 

'I look forward to receiving written notice from you acting in “your capacity as a Director of FFP” that the 3.3.2015 letter has been formally rescinded and by implication, assurance that all improprieties have been resolved. If I do not receive such a statement from you by 5pm on Friday 10th April 2015 I will have no alternative but to lay evidence of what appears series transgressions before the appropriate legal and regulatory authorities and other interested parties.' 

So much for his anarchism, I wonder what State agencies he had in mind?

If there was any impropriety in my election as a 4th Director it was in the failure to tell me about it. We reviewed all the procedures at the meeting on 30 March 2015. Nobody was ‘rumbled’, we all agreed to hold an AGM and elect more Directors. The Friends of Freedom Press is being rejuvenated and I am playing an active and positive part in this. We are all very pleased at the increase in the number of Directors and aware of the responsibilities we have.  We are also aware of the history of Freedom and want to be faithful to what Vernon Richards and others were trying to achieve in setting up the FFP. We also recognise the value of the Freedom Collective and the day to day users of the building who give it life. I hope we can all move forward productively and NV (Northern Voices) will report more accurately in the future.  As you know I have had no personal history with NV and have no animosity towards NV or any individual members.

Yours, Richard Parry.