The brass neck of Julian Assange

On 1 March, the Old Vic theatre in London is hosting the première of Europe’s Last Dictator — a film documenting torture and state-sponsored murder and kidnap in Aleksandr Lukashenko’s Belarus. I don’t know if it looks at the brilliantly subversive Belarus Free Theatre, which has been at the forefront of the dissident movement, but I have been heartened to see British actors — Ian McKellen, Jude Law, Sienna Miller, Samuel West — responding to appeals for solidarity from their fellow performers in Belarus by taking up the cause of the opposition.  Given this admirable record, it is no surprise to learn that Joanna Lumley will be co-hosting the evening at the Old Vic.

It is more of a surprise to learn that standing alongside her will be Julian Assange.

For every example of principled artistic activism one can find, there is a Jemima Khan or Bianca Jagger: preposterous celebs, who insist that Wikileaks is a force for good.