Jeremy Corbyn backs iconic Hackney music venue in battle against local development

Jeremy Corbyn has backed a campaign to save a historic London music venue as he warned the UK could “lose out on a whole the next generation of musicians.”

The Moth Club has called on local residents, fans and artists to help its battle against a proposed development next door, which it claims would prevent it from operating as a music and nightlife venue.

The Hackney venue, which can fit around 300 spectators, has hosted hundreds of world-renowned artists, from Lady Gaga to Dave Grohl, since it began operating as a live music space in 2015 after opening in 1972 as a servicemen’s club.

The campaign has since received support from more than 30,000 people and 100 artists, including Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip, Punk rockers Amyl and the Sniffers, and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, who spoke at the venue as part of an event by the Music For The Many campaign, working with the Peace and Justice project.

Independent MP Mr Corbyn told The Independent: “If we don't defend live music venues and keep them and make sure we can develop them, then we lose out on a whole the next generation of musicians.”

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This would include “the musicians of tomorrow, the heart of the community, and we will be even more intensely stuck at home looking at computer screens rather than going out and socialising with people and making music together.”

“We need a government that actually understands music and understands the value of it in society,” he said. “I don't hear many of my colleagues in the members' tea room in parliament talking about it.”

Asked if ministers understood the UK music scene, the former Labour party leader said said: “One or two of them do, most of them no” before describing the Labour government’s view on protecting music venues and nightlife “contradictory”.

“If you ask them a question, are you in favour of music venues, are you in favour of nightlife, they'd say yes, of course we are. But then will they facilitate it? Will they protect them both by legal processes and financial processes? Probably not.”

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“The government has done the right thing in limiting the business rates on venues. That's good, that improves things, but we need to go a bit further,” he said. “We need to give local planning authorities greater power to protect live music venues by actually listing a venue as an entity within planning law. So we say you can't touch that, it's a live music venue.

Since September 2024, the venue has campaigned against a proposal for a new block of flats, set to be built on the side of the building close to its stage, with balconies that overlook the smoking area attacked to the club. The venue owners have argued the new development would attract noise complaints, threatening its licence, and render it unable to work as a nightlife venue.

A decision was expected in December on whether Hackney Council would grant approval for the new block of flats. Hackney’s mayor, Caroline Woodley, said that she had not seen any planning proposals that suggest the venue might have to close.

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“As far as I’m concerned Moth Club will remain a treasured space for the Hackney community to gather,” she said. “The proposals for new development close to Moth Club have been put forward by private developers on land that they own. Like every council, Hackney’s planning authority has a duty to consider planning applications against planning policies, and unfortunately the Council cannot comment on proposals whilst this process is occurring.

“However, Hackney’s planning policies include an ‘agent of change’ principle, which places responsibility on a new development to mitigate for noise, rather than existing venues to change how they operate.”

Edie Kench-Andrewes, who manages the venue, said “it didn’t seem like the council had seen the entire picture of what we were trying to communicate.

“It’s not just us a petition and it’s not just us trying to raise awareness of our own situation, but also bring light to many many closures of venues and hubs for people, and communities that have closed in the last however many years. The closure of these places is incredibly important.”

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Moth Club’s fight to remain open comes as Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced more investment in London’s nightlife. In the recent Nightlife Taskforce report, Hackney is heralded as a “hot spot”, with the borough’s venues among the highest revenue generators in the capital.

Meanwhile, 30 music venues across the UK permanently closed in 2025, according to the Music Venues Trust

Justine Simons OBE, London’s deputy mayor for culture and the creative industries, has said: “Moth has been part of Hackney’s cultural fabric since 1972 and is one of London’s most important grassroots venues supporting emerging artists, hosting major names and anchoring the local creative scene.

“City Hall has raised concerns about the impact of the nearby planning applications on this renowned venue and is involved in ongoing discussions with the council and Music Venue Trust on this issue. We will continue to work with all parties to support this important venue.”

Hackney Council declined to comment further while the planning application is active. The Independent has contacted the Department for Culture, Music and Sport for comment.