Westbury hustings event cancelled following Manchester attack

A HUSTINGS event which was scheduled to take place in Westbury on Wednesday 24th May, was cancelled following the Manchester terror attack.

Westbury Area Churches Together who organised the hustings, made the decision to cancel in light of the terror attack in Manchester.

Ward Jones said, “We cancelled the event  because on the morning of the hustings I was contacted by Andrew Murrison’s agent to say Conservative central office had decreed there would be no national or local campaigning for the time being. I consulted one or two others and we decided there was therefore no point in continuing.

“My original intention was to continue with the hustings with a time of silence and prayer before we began. I felt that having properly observed 24 hours of reflection we should continue. To cancel two days on, seemed as though we were giving in to the evil bomber. But that plan was taken out of my hands with the CCO decision. I then did my best to let as many as possible know of the cancellation, including those who had submitted some 58 questions. Clearly there was significant interest in the event.

“A number of people joined the Revd Rhona Floate and myself to share prayers and reflection for those involved in the Manchester bombing on the Wednesday evening, including the Green and Liberal Democrat candidates who chose to come along.”

It was reported in the last issue of the White Horse News that, all candidates except Independent candidate, Liam Silcocks were committed at the time of writing.

This appears to have been misinterpreted by some readers. Liam Silcocks had another commitment which predated our planned hustings but subsequently that commitment was cancelled and he would have attended the Hustings if they had gone ahead.

Liam said, “Whilst the comments are open to interpretation many have negatively reacted, suggesting I was not prepared to face the public or discuss/debate with other candidates. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Initially I had to decline attending due to a long standing work arrangement in Manchester.  Due to the horrific events in Manchester, a decision was made to cancel and I notified Revd Jones that I would be attending.”