Fury as police barricade entrance to right-wing conference in Brussels attended by Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman after local mayor issues a BAN and says ‘far-right’ are ‘not welcome’

Police today barricaded the entrance to a right-wing political conference as a local mayor tried to shut down the event attended by Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman.

The two-day ‘National Conservatism’ gathering in Brussels descended into chaos as authorities attempted to enforce a ban.

As well as Mr Farage, the ex-UKIP leader, and Mrs Braverman, the former home secretary, other keynote speakers were due to include Hungarian PM Viktor Orban.

But the future of the conference was thrown into jeopardy following an order issued by Emir Kir, the mayor of Brussels district Saint-Josse-ten-Noode.

He said he was banning the event from taking place in the Belgian capital ‘to guarantee public safety’.

‘In Etterbeek, in Brussels City and in Saint-Josse, the far-right is not welcome,’ Mr Kir added.

Police were seen inside the ‘Claridge’ venue around midday – as Mr Farage took to the stage to deliver a speech – and officers held talks with conference organisers.

It was reported that attendees had been given 15 minutes to leave the venue. But officers did not appear to force the event to shut down and speeches continued.

Event organisers later claimed that police were ‘not letting anyone in’ and posted a video on social media of a police barricade outside the venue.

Eric Zemmour, the controversial former French presidential candidate, was said to have been denied entry with his keynote address postponed ‘possibly indefinitely’.

In his own address to the conference, Mr Farage lashed out at the ‘monstrous’ efforts to shut down the gathering on its first morning, saying: ‘We are up against a new form of communism.’

Mrs Braverman attacked the ‘thought police’ who were trying to close the event. And Downing Street this afternoon described the Belgian police action as ‘extremely disturbing’.