Exclusive: Venue Hosted Labour, Cancels on Brexit Party Last Minute
The poll-topping Brexit Party has vowed the show must go on after the venue it hired for a campaign rally cancelled the booking at short notice, claiming they don’t host political meetings — despite previously hosting the left-liberal Labour Party.
A Brexit Party spokesman told Breitbart London the party had been contacted by the Swindon County Ground informing them of the decision to cancel the rally earlier this week, but not before the Brexit Party had already taken out adverts in local newspapers promoting the now sold-out event.
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The Monday-night rally due to take place in Swindon, a South-West town known for its railway heritage and which voted to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum, was booked for the Legend’s Lounge at Swindon Town Football Club a month ago, but the cancellation came just days before the event.
The party claims the cancellation came after a small number of complaints were made to the venue for hosting the event, and that after taking the booking and payment for the venue for a political event, they subsequently decided they didn’t host political parties.
The Brexit Party points to advertising by the town’s Labour Party dating to December 2018 for an event they held at the same venue as evidence to the contrary.
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The Brexit Party’s Tim Page said: “It’s a crying shame that the football club has taken this decision as we have sold out all 300 tickets well in advance, and we anticipate a large crowd of people arriving at the County Ground already angry at the shenanigans by, and inadequacies of, our politicians at a national level.
“I think it’s a bit of an own goal as Swindon has a large demographic of Leave supporters who are unlikely to be impressed with this shabby behaviour… When I booked and paid for the event, I was totally upfront about who I was booking for, and the club happily accepted my money, both the immediate deposit and the full payment one week later.”
Breitbart London understands the Brexit Party now intends to show up the venue anyway, holding the rally outside the building on a piece of public land adjacent to the original location. Those appearing at the event include all six of the Brexit Party’s South-West candidates, including heavy-hitter Ann Widdecombe and retired Royal Navy Rear Admiral Roger Lane-Nott.
Breitbart London has contacted Swindon County Ground for comment.
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Brexit Party candidate Roger Lane-Nott took aim at Remain-supporting institutions working to silence pro-Brexit activists at a similar campaign rally in the Somerset town of Taunton on Saturday, when he criticised the BBC for their lack of coverage of the party in the run-up to Thursday’s election.
Responding to a question put to him by Breitbart London, Rear Admiral Lane-Nott said: “…we all know that most of the mainstream media is [in favour of] Remain, most of the mainstream media is left-wing.
“Look at the [Andrew] Marr programme, appalling journalism, and it is appalling for the BBC to allow it to go on,” he said, referring to the fact that the publicly-funded broadcaster had announced a line-up comprised solely of Remain-voting political leaders for the last edition of its flagship political programme before the European Parliament elections.
“In some cases, they are in denial, they don’t think it will happen. The same way they didn’t think we would vote to leave,” he said.
With four days to go until the United Kingdom votes in an EU election that wasn’t supposed to happen, the Brexit Party — which supports a full withdrawal from the European Union on World Trade Organisation rules — is polling in first place at 35 per cent.
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Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook