The Society of Authors is hemorrhaging members.

A number of writers have quit the Society of Authors after the literary union was accused of failing to defend members, The Telegraph can disclose.

The literary union, which has around 12,000 members, has been at the centre of a series of “cancel culture” rows involving Sir Philip Pullman, Kate Clanchy and Rachel Rooney.

Critics have also accused the union of failing to defend prominent authors, including JK Rowling, who were attacked over their gender-critical views.

Which is to say, their views that men are not women.

Now members of the society’s management group have quit over its perceived failure to speak out against cancel culture. The union has also been accused of failing to bring in reforms to ensure it does not become partisan in national debates such as the trans rights controversy.

Is the problem being partisan? Or is it being on Team Irrational while abusing members who know that men are not women? The “trans rights controversy” boils down to Deranged Fiction That Pretends Men Can Be Women versus sane people. Is that really partisan? If a coterie of nutcases decided humans can fly by deploying their wings, would it be partisan to say no we can’t?

There has been growing frustration that the Society of Authors has refused to apologise for its role in a spate of literary cancellations in recent years.

Among them was the case of [Kate] Clanchy, who was ostracised by fellow writers and effectively dropped by Picador, her publisher, after she was accused of using racist language in her book, Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.

The Orwell Prize-winning author has claimed that she was told to apologise by Chocolat author Joanne Harris, the society’s then chairman.

Sir Philip, the author of His Dark Materials, sought to defend Ms Clanchy in his capacity as president of the society by comparing her critics to the Taliban.

Ms Harris then apologised for Sir Philip’s remarks, stating that the society deplored “racism and prejudice in all its forms”.

Including the forms that are non-existent.

It’s interesting and sad that Pullman was right about this one and so wrong about trans ideology.