Anti-BNP meeting cancelled,RMT caught out to be LIARS

A HIGHLY anticipated anti-BNP meeting starring a home-bred folk star, a sporting legend and a trade union leader had to be pulled at the last minute.

The Stop The BNP forum, which was organised by the RMT union, was scheduled to take place at the Broadway Theatre in Barking on Sunday (April 11) to discuss the implications of voting for the right-wing British National Party.

It promised to be a lively campaigning effort with the general secretary of RMT Bob Crow, Bard of Barking Billy Bragg and football star Luther Blissett as speakers.

However, the Broadway Theatre, which is a registered charity, had to cancel the meeting due to its political nature.

The venue had initially been told that the event would be a private meeting of union members but staff were surprised to see an advert from the RMT in this paper which announced it as an "open forum" with a political agenda.

A spokeswoman for the venue said: "The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) had hired the Broadway for an event that was to take place here on Sunday 11 April.

"At the time of the hire, the Broadway was informed that it was to be a private meeting for RMT members.

"Subsequently, we discovered that the event was being described as an 'open forum' in newspaper advertisements, with an agenda to discuss 'the dangerous consequences of further gains for the BNP in Barking and Dagenham'.

"Because the nature of the hire had been changed without discussion with or the prior agreement of the Broadway and was being advertised as a public event of a political nature, the Broadway was left with no option other than to cancel the event.