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A far-right BNP splinter group cancelled its Merseyside conference after a Facebook page suggested members wear golliwog fancy dress.

British Voice were expected to meet for their autumn conference on Saturday morning at a secret location.

But Merseyside Police advised them to reschedule after a Facebook page ‘British Voice’ disclosed a possible venue and claimed there would be “golliwog-themed” fancy dress and prizes.

Mike Whitby, chairman of British Voice and a former BNP mayoral candidate for Liverpool, said the page had nothing to do with the group and was a fake.

He said the golliwog claims were “complete nonsense”.

The Facebook page, which has ten times fewer likes than the group’s official ‘The British Voice’ page, posted last week: “We will be conducting a raffle with golliwog-themed prizes, a fancy dress competition (golliwog-themed) as well as hoodies, caps, t-shirts and socks at reduced prices.

”This will be the conference of the year for all good patriots. M.W.”

But Mr Whitby said: “It’s complete nonsense, and the page is a fake one. We don’t use golliwogs, I never leave my initials at the bottom of something and we don’t have a shop at our conferences.”

Golliwogs - a black caricature with red lips, afro-style hair and dressed in minstrel clothing - were a character in children’s books in the late 19th century usually depicted as a type of rag doll.

The toys became a figure of controversy in the 1960s when critics complained it was an offensive caricature of black people.

Mr Whitby, however, said he did not condemn the use of the term.

He said: “If people find it offensive, they have to grow up. It’s a child’s toy, and it’s up to the individual. People use them to get back at political correctness.”

He said many members were disappointed the conference had been cancelled early on Saturday morning.

Mr Whitby said: “People had booked their B&Bs, and spent a lot of money to get there.”

The party’s website says its policies include upholding “the British freedom to discriminate” and banning the word “racism”.

The 63-year-old chairman has previously been found guilty of racially abusing a Birkenhead traffic warden , but rejected anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate’s claim that British Voice was “irrelevant and racist”.

He said: “I’m not a racist in any form. What I defend is the rights of the indigenous people of Great Britain.”

Mr Whitby declined to define what he meant by “indigenous”.

A Merseyside Police spokesman said: “Following information which was publicly posted on social media, advice was given to reschedule this event at a later date.”

The ECHO has approached those behind the ‘British Voice’ page.