An American anti-Islam influencer due to speak at a rally organised by Tommy Robinson has been blocked from entering the UK by the home secretary.
Valentina Gomez was due to attend the Unite the Kingdom rally in May, and had shared a screenshot online of an email showing her granted electronic travel authorisation (ETA), prompting backlash from MPs and campaign groups.
The government has blocked her entry to the country over concerns her presence would not be conducive to the public good – the same justification used for blocking rapper Kanye West earlier this month.
Gomez was excluded from the UK on the grounds that the democratic right to expression does not extend to promoting hatred and extremism, it is understood.
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The Muslim Council of Britain had written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood last week, stating that granting Gomez a visa was a double standard when others, like West, had been refused.
“People who propagate hate speech and division should not be given free entry to the United Kingdom,” the Muslim Council of Britain said on Monday.
“This decision is the right course of action by the UK government, and this should be a precedent for others who choose to promote disinformation and hatred.”
Gomez, who has more than 540,000 followers on Instagram, gained notoriety through a series of anti-Islamist and anti-LGBTQ+ stunts, including using a flamethrower to burn both the Quran and LGBTQ+ inclusive books.
Last year, Gomez called for the UK to appoint a prime minister who would send Muslims “back to their Sharia nations” while speaking at Unite the Kingdom, an anti-immigration march, alongside Robinson.
Baroness Shaista Gohir urged the government to deny Gomez entry on Sunday, sharing a statement on X from the charity the Muslim Women’s Network UK.
Gomez responded to the statement by writing: “If you keep speaking without being spoken to, I’ll have your husband mohamed discipline you.”
“Others have been denied entry to the UK for rhetoric directed at other faith groups,” the Muslim Council of Britain wrote in its letter to Mahmood.
“The inconsistency raises serious concerns about whose speech is deemed unacceptable and whose is permitted”.
Rapper West, who also goes by the name Ye, made an application to travel to the UK earlier this month after he was booked to headline the London festival Wireless.
His application was blocked on the grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good, following his history of antisemitism.
The rapper has voiced admiration for Adolf Hitler and made numerous antisemitic remarks in the recent past, including releasing a song called Heil Hitler and advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale.
In January, he took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal to apologise for his actions, titled: “To Those I’ve Hurt”, where he blamed his bipolar disorder, linked to an undiagnosed brain injury.
Last week, Homelessness charity Centrepoint cut ties with TV personality Sharon Osbourne after she expressed support for the Unite the Kingdom rally in May.
The march, organised by Robinson, was last attended by between 110,000 and 150,000 people in September.
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