The two-day 'National Conservatism' gathering in Brussels descended into chaos as authorities attempted to enforce a ban.
Police today barricaded the entrance to a right-wing political conference as a local mayor tried to shut down the event attended by Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman .
He said he was banning the event from taking place in the Belgian capital 'to guarantee public safety'.Police were seen inside the 'Claridge' venue around midday - as Mr Farage took to the stage to deliver a speech - and officers held talks with conference organisers. In his own address to the conference, Mr Farage lashed out at the 'monstrous' efforts to shut down the gathering on its first morning, saying: 'We are up against a new form of communism.'
Nigel Farage lashed out at 'monstrous' efforts to shut down a gathering of right-wing politicians in Brussels and warned: 'We are up against a new form of communism' Event organisers later claimed that police were 'not letting anyone in', adding on X/Twitter: 'People can leave, but they cannot return'
Speaking on his first official trip back to the Belgian capital since Britain left the bloc, Mr Farage said: 'What has happened over the course of the last 48 hours is simply monstrous.' He added: 'This is what we are up against, we are up against an evil ideology, we are up against a new form of communism - this is nothing less than that.'That leaving this place, regaining our national sovereignty - even if we could have carried it out better - that recognising that you cannot be an independent, democratic, self-governing nation state and a member of this monstrous union with its ideology behind it.
Police for the Brussels district of Saint-Josse, where the venue is located, confirmed to the AFP news agency that they had been tasked by the local mayor with notifying organisers of a ban. 'And we are here talking about the issues that matter to the British people but also many citizens around Europe.'It's a real shame that the thought police instructed by the mayor of Brussels has saw fit to try and undermine and denigrate what is free speech and free debate.'
'Often cancel culture kicks in when somebody pushes the boundaries of what might be seen to be legitimate debate.'
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