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Belgian mayor orders halt to NatCon conference attended by Braverman Rishi Sunak and Belgian PM criticise mayor’s halting of NatCon conference
(about 3 hours later)
Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman speak at Brussels event as mayor issues order on public safety grounds Emir Kir ordered police to close down radical rightwing conference attended by Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage
Authorities in Brussels have ordered the closure of a radical right conference that was addressed by British politicians including Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman. The UK prime minister has rounded on Belgian authorities for closing down a radical rightwing conference in Brussels that was addressed by British politicians including Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman.
The order banning the National Conservatism conference from taking place on Tuesday was issued “to guarantee public safety”, according to Emir Kir, the mayor of the Saint-Josse-ten-Noode district in Brussels. After a day of chaos, claims and recriminations, the decision by a local Belgian mayor to stop the National Conservatives (NatCon) event was also condemned as “unacceptable” by Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo.
Braverman, who has sought to cultivate a following on the right in Britain and beyond since she was sacked last year as home secretary, took to the stage after police had arrived to execute the order to shut the event down. The two-day conference, which was also due to hear from Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and the far-right French politician Éric Zemmour, had been scrambling to find a venue to host the speakers after two previous venues pulled the plug at the last minute.
She delivered a speech in which she claimed that the UK could leave the European convention on human rights (ECHR), scorning Rishi Sunak’s recent suggestions that he would be willing to exit from it if it prevented him from implementing his policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. But within hours of starting proceedings at a third venue, the Claridge hotel, police entered the building to serve an order to close it down. Their action came just as Farage, the former Brexit party leader, was finishing his speech.
Emir Kir, the mayor of the Brussels district of Saint-Josse where the Claridge is located, confirmed on Facebook he had issued a ban in order to “ensure public security”. He said the far right – which is predicted to surge in EU-wide elections taking place in June – was “not welcome” in the city.
A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister, said: “It’s very clear that cancelling events or preventing attendance and non-platforming speakers is damaging to free speech and to democracy as a result. It’s very clear that free debate and exchange of views is vital. Even when you disagree.”
De Croo said: “What happened at the Claridge today is unacceptable. Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy but can never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830. Banning political meetings is unconstitutional. Full stop.”
What happened at the Claridge today is unacceptable. Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy but can never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830. Banning political meetings is unconstitutional.Full stop.
The decision to close the conference caused surprise on Tuesday morning as there was little evidence of disturbance at the low-key venue that has previously hosted Brazilian singers and latino festivals.
But by 1pm there was bedlam after police tried to serve an order to shut the event down, eventually entering the venue at the invitation of the organisers as Farage was finishing his speech.
“I think it’s absolutely monstrous,” Farage told reporters after wrapping up his address.
Earlier organisers had blamed “extremists on the left” for trying to suppress free speech and many believed the move to close the event handed a massive publicity coup to NatCon, a little-known organisation.
“I’ve experienced cancel culture personally here … but what has happened in there on the stage with global media, we can see that legally held opinions from people who are going to win national elections is not longer acceptable here in Brussels, the home of globalism,” Farage told reporters.
“This is the complete old Communist style where if you don’t agree with me, you’ve got to be banned, you’ve got to be shut down.”
Organisers allowed Braverman, the former UK home secretary, to go ahead with a lengthy speech before telling the near 100 delegates that they had to leave the building.
Braverman, who has sought to cultivate a following on the right in Britain and beyond since she was sacked last year as home secretary, delivered a speech in which she claimed the UK could leave the European convention on human rights (ECHR), scorning Sunak’s recent suggestions that he would be willing to exit from it if it prevented him from implementing his policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.
“It’s therefore no surprise that recent noises in this direction from the prime minister are being dismissed by the public as inauthentic.”“It’s therefore no surprise that recent noises in this direction from the prime minister are being dismissed by the public as inauthentic.”
After her speech, she told Sky News that the “thought police, instructed by the mayor of Brussels” had sought to undermine free speech and debate.After her speech, she told Sky News that the “thought police, instructed by the mayor of Brussels” had sought to undermine free speech and debate.
Police entered the building after they were invited in by organisers just as Farage was finishing on stage, before then leaving again and preventing others from coming in. Speakers at the event included elected officials from across the EU, on themes such as “Why Should We Prefer Our Own Culture to Others?” or “Challenging Wokeism: an International Matter”.
Organisers told those at the event that the closure of the event would be “gradual” and that they intended to find a new venue for Wednesday. However, they later said on X they were legally challenging the order. Among the other speakers in the line-up were Ryszard Legutko, a Polish politician who has said he does not “understand why anyone should want to be proud of being a homosexual” and Rod Dreher, an American writer who argued that the Christchurch mosque gunman who killed 51 people in 2019 did have “legitimate, realistic concerns” about “declining numbers of ethnic Europeans”.
Farage took the stage to tell those gathered that the owner was coming under pressure from the mayor and that the food for the event had not arrived. “This is what we are up against. We are up against an evil ideology. We are up against a new form of communism.” Farage said as he gave a keynote address.
The venue was the conference’s third after others had cancelled bookings. An upmarket venue, Concert Noble, near the European Commission and European parliament pulled the plug on Friday after protests from anti-fascist activists.
NatCon organiser Yoram Hazony announcing the conference would be closed gradually... Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman allowed to speak pic.twitter.com/2a6VqsxzwcNatCon organiser Yoram Hazony announcing the conference would be closed gradually... Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman allowed to speak pic.twitter.com/2a6Vqsxzwc
The conference was then switched to the Sofitel in Place Jourdan, five minutes from the European Council headquarters and a hotel always booked for prime ministers, many of whom will be staying there for a leaders’ summit in Brussels on Wednesday. Sunak had been urged at the weekend to stop Braverman from attending the rightwing convention featuring figures who have been under investigation for extremism.
However, opponents of the radical right also questioned the move by local authorities, which was being portrayed as an attack on free speech. Organisers insisted they would try to find a new venue for Wednesday when Orbán, who is in Brussels for a leaders summit in the evening, is due to speak.
Rishi Sunak had been urged at the weekend to stop Braverman, his former home secretary, from attending the rightwing convention featuring figures who have been under investigation for extremism.
Among others due to appear at the gathering is Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister and a key ally of Vladimir Putin.
In 2020, the Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski was reprimanded under Boris Johnson’s Conservative party leadership for attending a NatCon event in Rome, where Orbán was also a speaker.In 2020, the Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski was reprimanded under Boris Johnson’s Conservative party leadership for attending a NatCon event in Rome, where Orbán was also a speaker.