Anti-Islam influencer Valentina Gomez, who has been banned from entering the UK to speak at a Tommy Robinson rally, has threatened to defy the home secretary by travelling to Britain via small boat. Ms Gomez dared the government to stop her, suggesting that Donald Trump’s White House would intervene if authorities attempted to arrest her.
Ms Gomez, a US-based influencer known for stunts such as burning a copy of the Quran, was excluded by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood after significant backlash from MPs and campaign groups. Responding in a video on X, Ms Gomez said: “I just got banned from England. Plan A is for aeroplane, and since that’s no longer an option we’re going to plan B, and Plan B is for boats. I’m going to hop on a boat, get free luxury accommodation, deliver my beautiful speech, and if they dare to arrest me, I guarantee you that the White House will get involved.”
Baroness Shaista Gohir, chief executive of Muslim Women’s Network UK, welcomed the ban. “I am pleased that the home secretary has listened to concerns and acted swiftly. They have rightly recognised the danger [Ms Gomez] posed. Had she been allowed into the UK, then it would have sent a message that Muslim safety does not matter,” she said.
Ms Gomez had been scheduled to speak at the Unite the Kingdom rally in central London on 16 May. A previous protest organised by the group in September, at which Ms Gomez reportedly spoke, attracted between 110,000 and 150,000 attendees. The home secretary intervened on the grounds that Ms Gomez’s presence would not be conducive to the public good – the same justification used to block rapper Kanye West earlier this month.
