Far right BPP meet at village hall

The management of a village hall is standing by its decision to allow a far right rally to take place at its venue.

On Sunday, about 100 "white nationalists" from all over the UK attended the meeting at the Moulsoe Millennium Hall in memory of the former National Front leader, John Tyndall.

Mandy Kingham, the chairman of the hall's committee, at first would not confirm the hall had been used by the group, but later said: "We will not hold an investigation into why they were booked, because we do not have any political bias. My understanding is that it was a memorial service for someone. We cannot go round questioning everyone before they book the hall. We all have human rights and we cannot discriminate. It is not right."

The Citizen last week reported the event was due to take place at an undisclosed venue in the city.

Far right sympathisers met at the Coachway at Junction 14 of the M1 at 2pm on Sunday before being directed to Moulsoe Millennium Hall. The British People's Party, which organised the event, say they held the meeting in secret because they feared attacks from the Anti-Nazi League and Unite Against Facism. Among the speakers was Val Tyndall, widow of British National Party founder John Tyndall – she described Nick Griffin, current leader of the BNP, as a 'pipsqueak'.

In addition there was what one website described as "a lively auction of Nationalist literature" and first prize in the raffle was an original programme of Sir Oswald Mosley's 1939 British Union of Facists rally held at Earl's Court in London.

Navrita Atwal, the director of the Milton Keynes Racial Equality Council, said: "Those venues taking bookings must be vigilant as to what messages these types of groups are portraying, especially as we live in a very multicultural society."

A Milton Keynes Police spokesman said although officers were aware a far right event would be taking place in the city last weekend, they did not know where it had taken place.

Milton Keynes Citizen