Democracy Dies in Scotland after Labour Hate Campaign

The hotel set to host the British National Party’s Scottish manifesto launch has cancelled the Party’s booking after an anti-democratic hate campaign by a Labour MP.

Eric Joyce, the Labour MP for Falkirk, posted instructions on his blog telling people to email the hotel’s general manager to request that he “refuse bookings from the British National Party”.

One commenter on Mr Joyce’s blog wrote that he had spread his message around on social networking sites, and another boasted of sending a “threatening email” to the hotel.

Eric Joyce, who was the first MP to claim more than £1 million cumulatively in parliamentary expenses, commented on the decision to cancel the event as “awesome” and “brilliant”. He also told one commenter on Twitter who respectfully questioned whether his actions were a sign of “a healthy democracy” to “grow up”.

British National Party Scotland Press Officer David Orr reported that Paul Bray, general manager of MacDonald Hotels’ Inchyra Grange hotel in Falkirk, where the manifesto was set to be launched, phoned him just after 5 p.m. yesterday to tell him that the event was cancelled and that the Party would no longer be welcome at the hotel.

Mr Bray had received phone calls threatening him with loss of future business if the conference went ahead, Mr Orr said.

Despite the fact that the conference was booked under the name “BNP Scotland”, MacDonald Hotels posted on their Twitter page yesterday that “The hotel was not aware of the true nature of the meeting until today.”

Gary Raikes, the Scotland Organiser for the British National Party, described the decision as “unbelievable” and “fascist”.

“The hotel informed me a few hours earlier that they had received our cheque for rooms booked and all was well,” he said. “A couple of hours later they cancel the event. Unbelievable! We cannot lie down and be treated like this. Hire cars have been booked, flights booked, rooms booked, tickets sold, a band booked, a photographer booked, manifestoes printed. This event has taken Davie Orr months to organise. The press were due to attend, with many confirming they would today. Will they report this attack on democracy by Eric Joyce the fascist, I wonder?”

David Orr said it was a clear case of discrimination: “If this had been a Muslim event or MOBOs or any other gathering of religion or ethnic minorities, this would result in criminal charges being brought on a ‘hate crime’.”

The British National Party would like to assure its supporters that this autocratic behaviour by the Labour Party will not affect our Scottish Assembly election campaign. We will never give in to persecution, and we will endeavour to let the people of Scotland hear our democratic message through the hard work of our dedicated activists, in spite of any party that tries to ruthlessly stamp out oppositional views.

Let’s show Eric Joyce and the Labour Party that the only result of their tyranny is more growth for the British National Party. Donate to our Regional Assemblies election campaign fund today, and imagine the look on his face when our donations barometer goes up because of his anti-democratic actions!