Former Smiths frontman Morrissey has never been a stranger to criticism, but his vocal support for right-wing political party For Britain has caused some of the strongest backlash against Moz to date. In fact, the world’s oldest record store banned Morrissey records from their catalogue back in May.
Now, British songwriter Billy Bragg has come out against the singer, who once attacked Margaret Thatcher on 1988 track ‘Margaret on the Guillotine’.
“I think he’s decided that he wants to betray everything he ever said in the Smiths, and he’s broken the hearts of a lot of people,” said Bragg in a new interview with The Big Issue.
“The Smiths expressed a lot of people’s own sense of disconnect with society and helped them to find their own identity, and he’s totally trashed that. I’m heartbroken for them because I’m a big Smiths fan, too. And I’m heartbroken for Johnny Marr because he’s genuine, a lovely guy, and he doesn’t deserve to have his legacy dragged through the dirt.
I have no sympathy for [Morrissey], no respect for him, but I have a lot of sympathy and respect for his audience.”
Moz’s upcoming tourmate, Paul Banks from Interpol, is a little less concerned about his ardent support for the anti-Islam party. When asked about Morrissey’s questionable political affiliations and comments in an interview with Hot Press, Banks replied “We thought it would be a good show for our band. That’s how I’m looking at it. I don’t get too much into the other stuff.”
As Consequence of Sound points out, the “other stuff” includes Moz saying that he’s not a racist because “everyone ultimately prefers their own race.” Yeesh.
