AN MP described the difficulty in finding a place for her to deliver a lecture on Palestine in High Wycombe yesterday as “extraordinary”.

Organisers of the lecture by Dr Phyllis Starkey, the MP for Milton Keynes South West, claim they were turned down by five venues in the town.

They say three cancelled the day after confirming the bookings, because of pressure put on them by an outside source.

Yesterday Labour MP Dr Starkey addressed a group of more than 100 people at the Hill Top Community Centre in Crest Road on the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip.

She told the meeting: “I have never had the experience before of people trying to stop the meetings I’m speaking at.

“They must have an inflated opinion of my influence and speaking abilities. It’s an extraordinary thing to happen in a democracy.”

Dr Starkey, who chaired an all-party committee on Palestine, said Western media had not been able to show the full extent of the campaign because of the Israeli ban on journalists entering the territory before the campaign started.

She also slammed the way the Israeli army had conducted the campaign, which is believed to have claimed the lives of more than 1,000 civilians living in Gaza.

Mohammed Khaliel, who organised the meeting, said: “I’m involved with police across the country in finding was to tackle violent extremism.

“When I picked up high tensions in the community I wanted to get things out in the open and nip any potential trouble in the bud.

“But when we’re not allowed to get together to talk about it what happens then? This is a humanitarian talk, and everyone has a right in a democracy to air their views.”