Right-wing conference with Farage and Braverman ‘shut down’ by Brussels mayor

Police in Brussels have arrived to shut down a gathering of Europe’s populist right at which Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman were due to speak, according to reports.

The National Conservative Conference was set to host Mr Farage, the former Brexit Party leader, and Ms Braverman, the former home secretary, as keynote speakers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and French polemicist Eric Zemmour, who came fourth in the 2022 presidential elections, were also scheduled to appear.

But Politico reports that police arrived within two hours of the event at the Claridge venue, near the European Parliament, to inform organisers the conference was being shut down.

According to Politico, a police officer told one of the organisers it was due to the “risk of public disorder.”

Appearing briefly on stage, Mr Farage said the Brussels’ authorities were “simply monstrous” for cancelling the event.

Earlier on Tuesday, Emir Kir, the mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode – where the Claridge is situated told Politco by email that he would “immediately take measures to ban” the event.

This breaking story is being updated