Police in Brussels have stormed a right-wing conference attended by Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman after orders for the event to be shut down.
Local authorities ordered the controversial National Conservatism (NatCon) Conference to be closed to “guarantee public safety”.
Ms Braverman, the former home secretary, and Mr Farage, the former Ukip leader, were among the political names advertised to speak at the event on Tuesday alongside right-wing Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orban.
Officers arrived after the event began at the Claridge venue in central Brussels to tell organisers the event would be shut down. According to a report on social media, police arrived while Mr Farage was addressing the event, giving attendees 15 minutes to leave the venue. However, officers did not appear to force the event to shut down and speeches continued.
Police have now said they will not let anyone else into the venue and people can leave and not re-enter.
Emir Kir, mayor of the area where the conference was held, said: “I issued an order from the mayor to ban the ‘National Conservatism Conference’ event to guarantee public safety.
“In Etterbeek, Brussels City and Saint-Josse, the far-right is not welcome.”
Conference organisers said they were launching a legal challenge to Mr Kir’s order, adding: “There is no public disturbance and no grounds to shut down a gathering of politicians, intellectuals, journalists, students, civic leaders, and concerned citizens.
“The police entered the…
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If a government decides that certain political viewpoints are not welcome in its community, what does that say about democracy and diversity of thought?
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No government has ever allowed viewpoints that want it overthrown to be spread, and that is never going to happen. That kind of freedom is a myth that the country has never and will never have
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all viewpoints should be welcomed, not all should be publicly platformed or abided by.
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