Home Office blocks anti-Islam influencer from entering UK

A US-based anti-Islam influencer has been blocked from entering the UK by the Home Office.

Valentina Gomez, who has unsuccessfully sought election in Missouri and Texas on an anti-Islam platform, previously filmed herself burning a copy of the Quran in a campaign video on social media.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood decided that Gomez's presence in the country "would not be conducive to the public good".

Gomez wrote on social media last week that she would be speaking at the Tommy Robinson-organised Unite the Kingdom rally in London on 16 May.

Responding to the ban, she suggested she would attempt to enter the UK on a small boat, and dared the government to stop her.

Sharing a video on X on Monday, Gomez wrote: "They can try to ban me, but they cannot ban the TRUTH. See you on May 16th."

At a previous Unite the Kingdom march in London last September, Gomez referred to "rapist Muslims" and said Islam was "the sword that the left is using to destroy Christian nations".

Gomez, who was born in Colombia, said she was coming to speak at the next Unite the Kingdom rally in May.

Before the Home Office's decision to block Gomez on Monday, the influencer previously said her application to enter the UK had been approved.

"VISA APPROVED," she wrote on Instagram last week.

That prompted the Muslim Council of Britain to write to the home secretary expressing concern that Gomez was being allowed to come to the UK again.

In a letter published on 17 April, it said allowing Gomez to speak on a public platform in the UK would "grant legitimacy and sends a troubling message about the selective application of Home Office standards".

The organisation welcomed the decision and said it should act as a "precedent for others who chose to promote disinformation and hatred".

The Home Office has previously intervened to block visas for public figures whose presence in the UK it views as potentially inflammatory.

Earlier this month, the government refused permission for Kanye West to enter the UK to perform at Wireless Festival after concerns were raised over the rapper's previous antisemitic comments.