Jo Cox charity benefits from BF booking

Wyboston Lakes found itself playing host to the group, just days after US President Donald Trump had retweeted unverified videos purporting to show violence by muslims from the account of the group’s deputy Jayda Fransen.

Fransen is currently banned from parts of Bedfordshire for inciting racial hatred.

A spokesman for Wyboston said: “ On December 2nd 2017 a small conference took place in our Oakley Suite by Britain First.

“The conference was booked at short notice by a legitimate company, Patriot Merchandise, with no obvious connections to Britain First.

“It was paid for by credit card as is usual with short lead bookings. The value of the event was £2,250 and was scheduled to take place between 2pm and 7pm.

“We were not alerted to the nature of the event until a member of the press called at 5.30pm to ask our reception team if we had a Britain First meeting. At that time we were still unaware who the customer really was.

“For the sake of clarity, had we known the nature of the event being held by Britain First, we would not have taken the booking, as the values of our organisation conflicts with theirs in totality.”

The booking fee of £2,250 has been rounded up to £3,000 and divided between three charities;

>Jo Cox Foundation, established to support the murdered MP’s friends, family and colleagues in their efforts to continue her work and to highlight the issues she cared about so deeply.

>Beyond Food, to inspire people who are at risk of, or have experienced, homelessness to gain meaningful employment using the catalyst of food.

>Bedfordshire & District Cerebral Palsy Society, a small local charity supported by the company for many years.