London - Angry student demonstrators Monday delayed a debate at the Oxford Union in Britain, forcing controversial historian David Irving to withdraw to a side room to air his views. Irving, the British historian notorious for his denial of the Holocaust, an offence for which he has served a prison term in Austria, was forced to abandon his plan to address the famous debating society in its main chamber.
After a delay of several hours, he and fellow speaker Nick Griffin of the right-wing British National Party (BNP) were later chairing "mini-debates" in separate side rooms of the Oxford Union building.
Earlier, police said that a group of about 30 students stormed the main debating hall, delaying the start of proceedings with a sit-down protest and by chanting anti-fascist slogans.
They had broken away from up to 500 protestors and scaled a wall to force their way into the building, shouting "shame on you" and "fascists out."
Irving and Griffin had arrived hours before the evening event to be escorted into the building to take part in a debate on free speech.
"I have been invited seven times, cancelled seven times. Tonight, I'm finally going to air my views," Irving was heard saying as he entered the building.
Speaking outside, Martin McCluskey from the Oxford University Students' Union said that giving Irving and Griffin a platform would be to lend them "legitimacy and credibility."
But Anne Atkins, a British writer and broadcaster who was participating in the event, said it was wrong to silence those espousing controversial views.
While she was not agreeing with the two men's views, it was "dangerous and disturbing" to believe that the "majority is always right."
Despite opposition from the Oxford Student Union and the university's Muslim and Jewish societies, Oxford Union members voted by a margin of 2 to 1 to let the ticket-only event, entitled Free Speech Forum, go ahead.
The Union is well-known for hosting high-profile foreign speakers, including Henry Kissinger, Mother Teresa, Benazir Bhutto and the Dalai Lama.
In Britain, a string of politicians including Defence Secretary Des Browne and Labour politician Chris Bryant pulled out of the event after learning that they would have to share a platform with Irving and Griffin.
Julian Lewis, a Conservative member of parliament, resigned from the Union in protest.
Luke Tryl, president of the Oxford Union, said: "The men were not being given a platform to extol their views but were coming to talk about the limits of free speech."
Irving was sentenced in Austria in February 2006 to three years in prison for Holocaust denial but was released early in December of the same year.
Griffin has been convicted of incitement to racial hatred and denying the Holocaust.
"There is no place for racists and fascists at universities," said Yair Sivan of the Union of Jewish Students at Oxford.
Hafia Hassan, a 19-year-old French and Spanish student, who had come to listen to the debate, said: "I think we are intelligent enough to oppose these people."
