The kids aren’t alt-right! Breitbart editor’s UK school talk banned by ‘counter-extremism’ unit
Milo Yiannopoulos, darling of the alternative right, has had a talk at his old UK school banned on safety grounds, it has emerged. Meanwhile, the venues for Holocaust-denier David Irving’s new UK speaking tour have been kept secret for fear they too will be targeted.
Yiannopoulis, a leading figure on the pro-Trump right and editor of right-wing US news network Breitbart, was due to speak on Wednesday at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Kent, where he was educated as child.
The school, however, called off the event after receiving advice from the Department for Education (DfE).
It is reported that the department’s counter-extremism unit had raised concerns about anti-Trump protesters wishing to stage a demonstration against Yiannopoulis.
“This decision was taken following contact from the DfE counter extremism unit, the threat of demonstrations at the school by organised groups and members of the public and our overall concerns for the security of the school site and the safety of our community,” a spokesman for the school told the Daily Mail.
The spokesman noted, however, that “within 24 hours of advertising the event, 220 Langton sixth formers had, with parental consent, signed up for the event” and that objections had come “from people with no direct connection to The Langton.”
Meanwhile, David Irving, who was convicted of Holocaust denial by a court in Austria in 2006, will launch a UK speaking tour this week. The venues, however, have been kept secret.
The talks on Irving’s own writings will take place in York, Plymouth, Norwich, and London, but exactly where the talks will be held has not been published.
According to the Times, Irving has lamented his banning from many countries. However, he says he does not feel the need to “fear any more problems in the US after Mr. Trump’s inauguration.”
