Oxford Union to vote on Irving invite

The president of the Oxford Union, Luke Tryl, bowed to pressure last night and said that his controversial invitations to the Holocaust-denying historian, David Irving, and the leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, to speak next Monday, would be put to members of the Union in a vote. Tryl told the Oxford Mail: "I want the final decision to be with the members of the society, and if they decide that we shouldn't invite Nick Griffin and David Irving, then I will cancel the whole event." The vote will be held this Friday.

Tryl, 20, an undergraduate at Magdalen College, is a former chairman of the Halifax branch of Conservative Future, the Conservative Party's youth wing. His invitation to the two men to address Monday's Free Speech Forum provoked outrage among fellow students. As a result, several potential Oxford Union speakers have cancelled appearances: they include Defence Secretary Des Browne, former Europe Minister Denis MacShane and TV presenter June Sarpong.

Meanwhile, Oxford police have been planning a major presence in the town as clashes are expected between students and Far-Right extremists who have threatened to turn up 'in force' at the university for a rally tonight and - if the Forum goes ahead - on Monday too.

David Irving recently spent 10 months in jail in Austria for "glorifying and identifying with the Nazis", which is a crime in Austria. He admitted "trivialising" the Holocaust in a speech he had made in the Austrian region of Styria in 1989. He was released from prison after an appeal in December 2006. Griffin has been the leader of the British National Party since 1999. ·