Winston Marshall announces leaving Mumford & Sons is 'the only way forward'

Winston Marshall is removing himself from Mumford & Sons and, by extension, the eye of a storm that began with a since-deleted tweet congratulating far-right writer Andy Ngo on his book, Unmasked, and continued after he posted another since-deleted tweet apologizing and stating he would be "taking time away from the band to examine my blindspots."

Thursday (June 24), the 33-year-old banjoist announced through this Medium blog that his temporary leave will be a permanent departure from Mumford & Sons—the Grammy-winning folk band he co-founded with Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett and Ted Dwane in 2007.

Below is an excerpt:

"For me to speak about what I’ve learnt to be such a controversial issue will inevitably bring my bandmates more trouble. My love, loyalty and accountability to them cannot permit that. I could remain and continue to self-censor but it will erode my sense of integrity. Gnaw my conscience. I’ve already felt that beginning. "The only way forward for me is to leave the band. I hope in distancing myself from them I am able to speak my mind without them suffering the consequences. I leave with love in my heart and I wish those three boys nothing but the best. I have no doubt that their stars will shine long into the future. I will continue my work with Hong Kong Link Up and I look forward to new creative projects as well as speaking and writing on a variety of issues, challenging as they may be."

Mumford & Sons tweeted their support to Marshall: