Westminster Ho!

By Esmerelda Weatherwax

So here I am preparing my journey to central London, Westminster area. 
I am warned in advance that every pub around Parliament Square  will be closed (this is the usual police diktat for patriot events) and probably those in the Trafalgar Square area as well.

The newspapers are reporting last night that 11 (eleven) “far-right agitators” have been barred from entering the country. I can’t find a fulllist. Of the 7 I mentioned on Thursday I know that Rebel News reporters Ezra Levant and Avi Yemeni can be added to that list but I can’t find who the last 2 are.

The Speaker of the Flemish Parliament (Freya Van den Bossche) and the  Belgian Foreign Minister (Maxime Prévot) have both summoned the British Ambassador to clarify why Flemish MP Filip Dewinter (Vlaams Belang) was denied entry to the United Kingdom.

Speaking in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives on Wednesday, energy minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) said Prévot, who is currently on a trade mission in Turkey, had instructed his cabinet to contact the British embassy in Brussels for an explanation.

According to Crucke, the embassy declined to comment on individual cases. “We take note of this sovereign decision,” Prévot said.

Van den Bossche said she would invite the British ambassador for talks to clarify the reasons behind the decision. “Freedom of expression is something very precious. It is not in the Constitution for nothing,” she said.

“If it turns out to be merely a case of having difficulty with an opinion different from that of the ruler in a friendly country, then that is shocking, and I will also express my deep concern about it,” Van den Bossche added.

The police have refused to divert the Nabka Day/Unite Against Tommy Robinson and the Far right march away from Westminster Synagogue. At about the time they march past Jewish worshippers will be leaving the Sabbath service and there is no other way out, as the side road is a cul-de-sac.

Karen Newman, from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said Jews should not have to be confronted with such a dilemma. She said: “They don’t want to have to run the gauntlet when they leave.”

Westminster Synagogue has previously had to cancel part of its programme to avoid it coinciding with pro-Palestinian protesters.

Police have also had to escort some of the congregation back to Knightsbridge Tube station afterwards because they were wearing typically Jewish clothing. Langer said he knew of people who had left their daughters at home because they did not want to expose them to the protesters.

Rich, Langer and Newman all expressed surprise that the Met had chosen not to use powers it has deployed in the past to change the route of Saturday’s march, which it can do under section 12 of the Public Order Act.

Preparations in Parliament Square are well underway.