The news that a Britain First rally in Belfast had to be postponed due to the weather has been hailed as a victory for snowflakes everywhere.
Party leader Paul Golding and deputy Jayda Fransen posted a video to Twitter saying they were stranded at a snow-logged airport and that the event would not go ahead until the New Year because to the inclement weather.
“Today is the day that snowflakes stopped fascists,” tweeted Jack Patton, while Naomi Long said: “Snowflakes 1, bigots 0.”
“Britain First had to cancel an event due to the snow… too much white?” mused Stephen Carter.
The rally, which claimed it would be “exposing Islam” in Northern Ireland, was promoted with a poster asking for participants to support Fransen, who is due to appear in court later this month after being charged with using threatening and abusive language in connection with a speech she made at an anti-terrorism demonstration in Belfast on 6 August.
In the video posted on Sunday, Golding said: “Unfortunately we are not going to be able to make it over to Belfast today, we’ve been stranded here at the airport in southern England for a good three to four hours now and the snow storm is showing no sign of abating whatsoever.”
Fransen chimed in: “We’re so sorry guys. It’s just ridiculous. I wonder how countries like Canada, when they have like 20 inches of snow manage to cope but anyway, we were hoping to have got over sooner but we couldn’t fly until this morning because yesterday we had our usual commitments. We had to go to the police station in London and sign on and then we had to meet with police afterwards about the threats that I’ve received.
“All of this nonsense that restricts our political activities has actually meant we had to fly this morning.”
Meanwhile, a counter demonstration by Belfast Anti-Fascists, went ahead regardless of the weather.
Fransen, 31, from Penge, south-east London, is on bail facing trial over four charges of causing religiously aggravated harassment as part of a Kent Police investigation into the distribution of leaflets and the posting of online videos during a trial held at Canterbury Crown Court in May.
She will go on trial at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on January 29, alongside Golding who faces three similar charges.