![Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party. [Photo: Dweller; Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0]](https://www.bradleystokejournal.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/nigel-farage-ukip.jpg "Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party. [Photo: Dweller; Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0]")
The UK Independence Party (UKIP) has been forced to change the venue of a public meeting in Bradley Stoke after the school where it was due to take place cancelled the hall booking.
Flyers promoting the meeting, to be fronted by UKIP’s national leader Nigel Farage, have been widely distributed in the local area over the past few weeks.
These gave the venue as Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS) but UKIP announced last Thursday that this had been changed to the Aztec Hotel.
A local party source told The Journal that the venue had been switched because the hotel “holds more people and has a PA system” but enquiries by The Journal have revealed a more plausible explanation.
Dave Baker, Executive Headteacher at BSCS, told The Journal:
“We were not told at the time of booking that the school was being booked for a political event and we were not happy at the school being associated with promoting particular political views, so we cancelled the booking.”
“We are obviously unhappy at flyers having been delivered to every house in Bradley Stoke associating us with a particular political agenda.”
The meeting, titled “It’s time to leave the EU”, promises to explore issues such as:
- “Why we can no longer afford to subsidise the wasteful and corrupt EU”;
- “How the EU is destabilising the world economy”; and
- “Why Westminster no longer governs Britain.”
The flyer describes Mr Farage, an occasional panelist on BBC1’s Question Time, as “the most charismatic and plain speaking politician in British and European politics”.
William Dartmouth, one of UKIP’s two South-West MEPs, will also be at the meeting, which takes place on Monday (28th May) at 7:30pm (for 7:45pm). Click the thumbnail image above for full details.
Unfortunate that this school is being politically biased. If the head teacher actually attends the meeting at the hotel, I would put money on him actually agreeing with Mr Farage. Our country’s traditional political parties have now become a waste of space with the same policies and the same ignorance towards the voting public. It is time for change. UKIP is not extremist, it is simply expressing a fresh new voice, with policies that actually show some difference from the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems. It is in fact the head teacher who is being extremist because we live in a democracy, yet he is stopping the right of free speech by cancelling the meeting at his school. I would understand if it was the BNP but it is not. Shame on him.
This cancellation begs the question of the headmaster, I wonder if he’s a supporter of Common Purpose and their pro-EU views?
Dave Baker, Executive Headteacher at BSCS should get the sack, he says:-
“We are obviously unhappy at flyers having been delivered to every house in Bradley Stoke associating us with a particular political agenda”
There is no associated political agenda with the school, Mr Baker it’s called democracy, the local people may want to attend any event at the school that was hired out. I suppose it would have been ok for David Cameron or Ed Milliband to book an event? Please answer that one!
Schools like this should have a full investigation about their practices.
The schools name should hang their heads in disgrace.
Ok people the reason why Mr Baker cancelled the booking was because he did not want the school associated with ANY political party, and correctly so.
Just because he cancelled it does not mean that he supports the polar opposite.
What the Head teacher is right. It is a Community School and cannot be aligned or used for the advantage of any political party. UKIP guys who booked the venue hide the hiring purpose from the school authorities. That is quite worrying and exposes the lack of integrity of that party members. UKIPs are not saints. They are merely using Euro-sceptism for their advantage. In light of the new political developments, we have to suspect that the opportunist politician who defected his political party and his family is behind this episode as well. Watch the space.
The BBC’s Robin Markwell says Nigel Farage will unveil two new recruits at tonight’s meeting: Former Bradley Stoke Mayor and SGC District Councillor for Bradley Stoke North Ben Walker and Bradley Stoke Town Councillor Ed Rose (both elected as Conservatives).
Latest developments, as they happen, HERE.
Tory defectors Walker (standing. left) and Rose (standing, right) are welcomed into UKIP at tonight’s meeting:
“jg163 Says: we live in a democracy, yet he is stopping the right of free speech by cancelling the meeting at his school. I would understand if it was the BNP but it is not.”
Some of us might want to attend a BNP meeting, and vote for them. But you’d ban it because you disagree with us. That’s democracy?
It was actually a very good meeting with Nigel Farages speech being very well received. This was in spite of a third of the audience not being UKIP members. Whatever brickbats are thrown at UKIP, it is the only party where new members are joining every day. The main parties are now running scared and are reduced to insults against a rising force in British politics!
@bob danaher:
Nigel is a broadcast showman & knows tactics to fool you well.
UKIP’s are scavengers. We are thrilled that it has at least eaten up the megalomaniacs.
Beware of the new false prophets. It’s time 4 Clement Atlee’s return 2 power.
Wow the Executive Head Teacher didn’t realise that UKIP were a political party. How reassuring for the parents.
As for UKIP perhaps the Executive Head should follow public opinion which now says 51% would vote to leave the EU if we were given a referendum, a UKIP policy since it’s formation.
Rich the EU are the false prophets claiming that they can rescue the world from economic meltdown when they can’t even rescue the Euro Zone.
Far from UKIP being scavengers, they are the only party telling the truth about the state of the EU where the accounts have not be signed off for 11 years. Nigel Farage is the only political leader with charisma and spells out the situation as it is! Cameron and especially Clegg give us horror stories of how we could not survive without the EU, they actually need us more than we need them in order to survive!
UKIP is growing with new members joining every day, the party is on a roll and will get progressively bigger as time goes on, our time is coming!