Conservative speakers arrested and banned from entering the UK

Conservative journalist, Lauren Southern, has been denied entry into the UK for criticising Islam during a previous visit. Border police in Calais detained Southern as she attempted to enter on a bus.

The official notice of refusal claims Southern was “involved in the distribution of racist material in London.” Authorities deemed Southern “a threat to the fundamental interests of society and to the public policy of the United Kingdom.”

Southern was stopped and investigated under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows authorities broad and intrusive powers to stop, search and hold individuals “without any ground of suspecting the person has any involvement in terrorism – or any other criminal activity.”

After the event, Southern revealed that during her interrogation, UK police questioned her about her Christianity and whether or not she was a radical. She was also asked how she felt about running down Muslims with cars.

Southern told Fox News, “They asked me about Tommy Robinson, asked how I would describe myself politically, asked me how I would describe nationalism.”

Nigel Farage offered his thoughts on the whole ordeal, arguing that, “to see Schedule 7 used against an activist who criticises a religion, and for that to be condemned as now being racism, and all of this, in a country that allowed back in 400 people who’d been fighting with ISIS in Syria – I do wonder, whether we’re perhaps getting our priorities right, or maybe we’re getting them wrong on this.”

The incident comes just days after “right-wing activists” Brittany Pettibone and Martin Sellner were detained and later denied entry into the UK.

Following the release of Pettibone and Sellner, the couple sat down with Tommy Robinson to discuss their ban. The 15-minute interview with Robinson can be viewed below: