Canadian right-wing journalist and activist Lauren Southern was barred from entering the United Kingdom on Monday, purportedly over a poster she distributed about Islam in February -- making her the latest international right-wing figure to be denied entry to the U.K. after criticizing the religion.

The U.K. Home Office confirmed to Fox News that Southern was refused entry to the U.K. at the border in Calais, France on the grounds that her entry was not “conducive to the public good.”

“Border Force has the power to refuse entry to an individual if it is considered that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good,” a Home Office spokesman said in a statement. The spokesman did not offer specifics as to why her entry was refused.

Southern, speaking to Fox News from France, said that she was to visit friends in the U.K., including Tommy Robinson -- the controversial founder of the right-wing English Defense League who is also known for his fiery criticism of Islam.

Southern said she was detained for six hours at the Calais border port, had her phone taken from her as she was held in a detention center and questioned for four hours in a line of interrogation she described as “bizarre.”

“They asked me if I’m a Christian extremist, asked me how I feel about running over people with cars,” she told Fox News. "They asked me about Tommy Robinson, asked how I would describe myself politically, asked me how I would describe nationalism.”

Southern said a notice of refusal of entry she was given cited a prior “distribution of racist materials” in February in Luton, which the document said “represents a threat to the fundamental interests of society and to the public policy of the United Kingdom.”

Both Southern and Robinson told Fox News that the material being referred to was a social experiment in which they passed around a fake “LGBT for Islam UK” poster that said: “Allah is Gay, Allah is Trans, Allah is Lesbian, Allah is Intersex, Allah is Feminist, Allah is Queer, Allah is All of Us.”

The experiment in Luton, which has a significant Islamic population, was in response to a Vice article that asked whether Jesus was gay, and was conducted to show what the Islamic reaction would be if a similar claim was made about Allah. Robinson said they were forced to take the posters down by police and told it was for their own safety. Both Robinson and Southern denied that the materials were racist, arguing that criticizing a religion is not a racist act.

Both Southern and Robinson are no strangers to controversy, particularly on the question of Islam. Robinson recently upset former CNN host Piers Morgan by brandishing a Koran and claiming it cites "murder and violence against us" in an appearance on "Good Morning Britain."

"Put that book down and show some damn respect for peoples' religious beliefs," Morgan said.

Meanwhile, the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center slammed Southern’s “anti-feminist, xenophobic, Islamophobic diatribes [that] tiptoe at the precipice of outright white nationalism" and branded her the "alt-right's Canadian dog whistle."

Her latest book “Barbarians: How the Baby Boomers, Immigration, and Islam Screwed My Generation” includes a recommendation from U.S. commentator Ann Coulter: “Buy this book before liberals ban it.”

But Southern told Fox that her treatment at the U.K. border indicates that something new may be afoot.

“It seems it could be marking the end of conservative speech in the U.K. or the beginning of an era of serious censorship,” Southern said.

Southern’s ban comes days after right-wing activists Martin Sellner and Brittany Pettibone, of the group “Generation Identity,” were refused entry to the U.K. when they landed at Luton Airport on Friday. According to the Home Office, they were both detained and eventually removed on Sunday after being judged that their presence was also “not conducive to the public good.”

The move by the U.K. government is likely to fuel long-standing claims from right-wing commentators (as well as some on the left) that Islam is given unique protection from criticism by European leaders -- who have also struggled to grapple with a wave of Islamic extremism coming in part from mass migration.

“Fascinating that the U.K. Border Force allows so many illegals to slip through the cracks, but it’s suddenly the most competent Border Force in the world when it comes to banning two female conservative independent journalists and an Identitarian activist,” Pettibone said on Twitter after her release.

The three young activists are not the first to be denied entry to the U.K. after criticizing Islam. U.S. radio talk show host Michael Savage and blogger Pamela Geller, both of whom have been outspoken in their criticisms of Islamic extremism, have also been banned from entering the UK.

President Donald Trump also has faced calls to refuse him entry to the U.K., with a number of politicians calling for Prime Minister Theresa May to cancel a planned state visit over his views and policies on immigration and Islam in particular.

After Trump canceled a February visit to the U.K., London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Trump had “got the message” and that Trump was “not welcome here while he is pursuing such a divisive agenda.”</s>ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Canadian far right activist Lauren Southern has been refused entry to the UK.

Ms Southern was held by Border Force officials in Coquelles, France, this morning.

She was refused entry after it was deemed her presence “was not conducive to the public good”, the Home Office said.

Following the decision, Ms Southern wrote on Twitter: “They just locked me out and said "au revoir"... Officially banned from UK for "racism".. doing fine though, all the cool people are being banned anyway.”

According to reports, Ms Southern had been planning to meet Austrian Martin Sellner of the Generation Identity group and American commentator Brittany Pettibone in the UK.

The pair were also refused entry at Luton airport on Friday.

They were removed from the country on Sunday, a Home Office spokeswoman said.

The Home Office said they were unable to specify why the trio had been refused entry.

However, in a video interview with former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson Mr Sellner said he had planned to appear at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park on Sunday.

Ms Pettibone had allegedly been planning to interview Mr Robinson.

The Home Office spokeswoman said: “Both individuals were refused on policy grounds that their presence in the UK was not conducive to the public good.”</s>The government has banned Canadian right-wing activist and journalist Lauren Southern from Britain, being held at Calais just days after Austrian activist Martin Sellner and author Brittany Pettibone were refused entry at Heathrow.

Southern was on a bus travelling to Britain on Sunday night when she was “singled out” by border police, who seized her passport and took her in for questioning, Breitbart London reporter Chris Tomlinson and sources close to the conservative writer said on Twitter.

Released from detention by British authorities in the French port town Monday morning, Southern told followers on Twitter that she was “doing fine” but had been “officially banned from UK for ‘racism’”.

A self-described “gonzo journalist” who recently returned from filming a documentary covering brutal attacks on white farmers, Southern had been planning to meet with Identitarian leader Martin Sellner and his American girlfriend Brittany Pettibone in the UK.

But as Breitbart London previously reported, the pair were detained and refused entry to Britain on Friday at Heathrow airport, ahead of a planned talk on free speech at Hyde Park in London.

The pair were then placed in detention, where they waited to be deported along with other foreign nationals after being served Home Office papers explaining Generation Identity “is viewed in the UK as a right wing organisation”, and alleging that Sellner’s planned speech was “likely to insight (sic) tensions between local communities”.

Pettibone, a YouTube political commentator, was told she was blocked from entering Britain not only in relation to her boyfriend’s speech but also because of her plans to interview former English Defence League leader turned citizen journalist Tommy Robinson.

Posting a picture of Home Office papers handed to Pettibone which describe him as “a far right leader whose materials and speeches incite racial hatred”, the Luton-born activist slammed the government as “liars”.

On social media, commenters questioned whether blocking conservative is now official UK policy, as Southern, Pettibone, and Sellner joined a host of right-wingers barred entry to Britain including Geert Wilders, who leads the Netherlands’ second largest political party, and radio show host Michael Savage.</s>A far-right Canadian activist has been banned from entering the UK after displaying provocative posters in Luton.

22-year-old Lauren Southern was detained at Calais today and presented with a Home Office letter which stated: “By your own admission, on the 24 February 2018 you were involved in the distribution of racist material in Luton.

“I believe that your actions whilst in the United Kingdom present a threat to the fundamental interests of society and to the public policy of the United Kingdom.”

On February 24, Southern was photographed outside Five Guys restaurant in Luton town centre alongside two other activists, displaying posters which stated “Allah is a Gay God” superimposed against a rainbow pattern.

The issue has sparked fierce debate on Twitter.

Mike Stuchbery posted: “‘Allah is a gay god’ - yeah, that’s not going to upset folks in Luton. Quite right she was knocked back. We don’t need any more trouble around here when we’ve got muttons like you running around.”

But others have criticised the ban. Right-wing pundit Katie Hopkins tweeted: “Dear @AmberRuddHR - you have detained @Lauren_Southern in Calais and prevented her entering the U.K. She is a Christian Conservative. You have sided with Islamists of Luton. You need to make better decisions ma’am.”

Tommy Robinson added: “It looks like they are about to deport @Lauren_Southern from not just Britain but from Europe. The racism they speak about is the enforcement of blasphemy laws . Lauren criticised Islam in Luton she never mentioned or spoke about race. These are dark times for Britain.”</s>LONDON — Three far-right figures say they have been deported from Britain after being detained when trying to enter the country.

Austrian Martin Sellner of the Generation Identity group, American commentator Brittany Pettibone and Canadian activist and YouTube personality Lauren Southern tweeted Monday that they were denied entry into Britain.

Britain’s Home Office said in a statement that the border force “has the power to refuse entry to an individual if it is considered that his or her presence in the U.K. is not conducive to the public good.”

Sellner said in a video posted on Twitter that he and Pettibone were detained for three days and deported.

He said on the video that both of them were handcuffed. He said he had planned to give a speech at “Speakers’ Corner” in London’s Hyde Park. He said “that was my crime.”

Pettibone said that she was denied entry because she had plans to interview far-right leader Tommy Robinson.

She said from Austria that “It felt like they were saying, ‘you’re right-wing, that’s not allowed.”‘

Southern, who has more than 400,000 subscribers on YouTube, tweeted that she was “officially banned from UK for ‘racism”‘ but was doing fine.

She said “all the cool people are being banned anyway.”</s>The “racist” leaflets which UK anti-terrorism police cited as the reason to detain conservative journalist Lauren Southern and bar her from entering the UK have been revealed to be leaflets promoting “LGBT for Islam.”

“You have asked for leave to enter the United Kingdom as a visitor for up to five days. However, by your own admission, on the 24th February 2018 you were involved in the distribution of racist material in Luton,” declared a document which was handed to Southern while she was detained last weekend. “I believe that your actions whilst in the United Kingdom present a threat to the fundamental interests of society and to the public policy of the United Kingdom.”

However, Southern has revealed that the allegedly “racist material” she handed out in Luton was nothing more than leaflets which read, “Allah is gay,” and “LGBT for Islam UK.”

The leaflets, which consisted of an LGBT rainbow flag and the text, “Allah is gay. Allah is trans*. Allah is lesbian. Allah is intersex. Allah is feminist. Allah is queer. Allah is all of us… LGBT for Islam UK,” were handed out by Southern, and conservative commentators Brittany Pettibone and Caolan Robertson in Luton.

“It was for a social experiment video comparing peoples reactions when this statement was applied to different gods. It was inspired by Vice’s infamous ‘was Jesus gay’ article,” claimed Southern to Breitbart News. “Don’t suppose I know how Allah is gay is a racist statement.”

Southern also claimed she was asked a variety of bizarre questions while detained under the Schedule 7 Terrorism Act of 2000, including how she felt about people running Muslims over, how Christian she was, and how she felt about “right-wing terrorism.”

Southern was also allegedly threatened with the confiscation and subsequent hacking of her phone if she refused to give up her password, but was allowed to “identify as Pakistani” on documents.</s>(Reuters) - Britain has banned three foreign far-right activists from landing on its soil in the last three days, a British security official said.

In a Facebook posting on Saturday, Generation Identity, a British white supremacist group, said Austrian activist Martin Sellner and his American girlfriend Brittany Pettibone, a YouTube commentator and author, had been detained by the British government.

The British official said that when they landed at Luton Airport, north of London, on Friday, border police refused to allow Sellner and Pettibone to enter Britain and that they were detained and then deported on Sunday.

The official, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said the couple had been banned from entering by Britain’s Home Office on the grounds that their “presence in the UK was not conducive to the public good”.

On Monday, British border police stationed in the French port of Calais also denied entry to Lauren Southern, a Canadian right-wing activist. After being detained, Southern tweeted that British authorities had told her she was “officially banned from UK for ‘racism’”.

The official confirmed that British border authorities had denied Southern permission to enter Britain on the same grounds as the other two activists.

Southern was planning to meet Sellner and Pettibone in Britain, according to the conservative news website Breitbart. Breitbart also said Sellner had been planning to make a speech in London’s Hyde Park, but that papers served on him by the British authorities alleged the speech was likely to incite “tensions between local communities”.

Breitbart said Pettibone was blocked from entering Britain not only in relation to Sellner’s planned speech but also because she planned to interview Tommy Robinson, former leader of the far-right English Defence League.

Experts who monitor Britain’s far right movements said the government had recently stepped up efforts to keep out ultra-right-wing foreign activists.

Among other Americans who have been banned from Britain are anti-Muslim campaigners Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, and Mark Weber, who heads a California group known for Holocaust denial.</s>More than 50,000 people are calling on Home Secretary Amber Rudd to “respect the rights of young refugees” after the government ditched its scheme to accept children living alone in Europe. The government’s decision to scrap the Dubs Amendment scheme, which sought to relocate about 3,000 vulnerable child refugees in France, Italy and Greece, has sparked outrage from groups working with displaced minors. Three volunteers who met while working in the Calais ‘Jungle’ camp have launched a petition calling on Rudd to transfer the agreed number of children to safety in the UK. Just 350 displaced youngsters have arrived in the UK.

The petition describes the “failure” of the British and French governments to put in place adequate safeguards for children living in the camp before, during and after its demolition. The volunteers describe their shock at the “neglectful treatment” children had suffered “both in their day-to-day lives and in their dealings with the Home Office”. “Your plan to halt transfers of unaccompanied refugee children under the Dubs Amendment, after having accepted just 350 children, is shameful. When the Amendment was passed it was widely agreed that 3000 would be a ‘fair share’ for the U.K to take in. There are 21.3 million refugees worldwide, and over half of them are under 18. Clearly we can and must do more. “We are also deeply concerned about the children who have had their family reunification requests rejected without being given the reasons for their refusal. Despite telling unaccompanied children during the closure of the Calais ‘Jungle’ that their cases to come to the U.K. would be processed fairly, the government decided to work within a scheme based on the Dublin III Regulations, but which operated outside of them. As a result, hundreds of children who have had their claims denied by the Home Office have been given no reasons for their rejections and no way to appeal, despite the fact that they have family waiting in the U.K. “Because the legal pathways for reaching the United Kingdom are closing, children eligible under both schemes are running away from accommodation centres across France to sleep rough in Calais and Paris, where they are vulnerable to trafficking and freezing temperatures, with the hope of getting across in more dangerous ways.” Many people have listed a variety of reasons why they signed the petition. One person, who said his name was Professor Sir Richard Jolly, wrote: “As an evacuee during the Second World War, I have been following the Dubs Amendment closely. Please restore commitment to the Dubs Amendment - and the UK’s good name.” The petition calls on the government to transfer at least 3,000 children from European countries, such as Greece, Italy and France, “with due haste”.

The Dubs Amendment was closed last week, with the government announcing it had “reasonably” met the “intention and spirit” of the scheme. The scheme was named after the Labour peer, Lord Alf Dubs, who was rescued from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939 and brought to the UK under the ‘Kindertransport’. Lord Dubs said the government appeared to be breaching the “letter and spirit” of the law. Lord Dubs said: “It wasn’t long ago that I remember the Prime Minister when she was Home Secretary told me the Government was prepared to accept the amendment. “It was on the same day the then immigration minister told me the Government would accept the letter and the spirit of that amendment. “I believe in arbitrarily closing down the scheme without any good reason for doing so the Government is in breach of its own commitments.” Rudd suggested that another reason for the scheme ending was that the French authorities had urged her not to make the Dubs scheme open-ended as it encourages people to make the dangerous journey to Europe. Rudd said: “I am clear that when working with my French counterparts, they do not want us to indefinitely continue to accept children under the Dubs amendment because they specify and I agree with them that it acts as a draw, it acts as a pull, it encourages the people traffickers.” Unicef said that 30,000 children arrived in Greece and Italy last year and that thousands of them “alone and highly vulnerable”.</s>Right-wing activists have been banned from entering the UK and held in 'detention centers', sparking a free-speech debate on the streets of London. Members of Generation Identity (GI) and Antifa clashed on Sunday.Border police held three high-profile members of GI just months after the group opened its UK wing. Martin Sellner, Brittany Pettibone and Lauren Southern were detained as they tried to make their way to London.GI, seen by some as the European equivalent of America's so-called 'alt-right' has been recruiting in the UK and attempting to spread its message, but a fierce left-wing opposition has seen meetings shut down and rallies interrupted. GI has an anti-Islam, nationalist message propagated through slick social media videos.First, Sellner, the Austrian co-founder of GI, was held with activist and American girlfriend Pettibone at Luton Airport on Friday. The pair was detained when their plane touched down.Speaking to fans on Periscope before she too was detained, Southern, from Canada, said her peers were being kept in a "detention center.""I'm just in absolute shock right now. They took them away in different locked vehicles and drove them to detention centers," she said.On Monday morning, Southern took to Twitter to announce she was being held in Calais after trying to enter Britain by bus. Southern joked online she had self-identified as "Pakistani" to French police as she was held in Calais.However, angered supporters called on the government to be clear about what was happening.A free-speech row erupted in the UK over the trio's detention. On Sunday, Speaker's Corner was surrounded by police as left-wing activists Antifa attempted to stop a rally by right-wing groups, including GI. Sellner had been due to talk at the event.Vinnie Sullivan of Veterans Against Terrorism and a number of other groups said right-wing groups are having free speech denied to them."I don't have a platform unless I create it myself. We have to sneak around and use underground means just to get our message out," he told RT UK. "In this country today it's becoming a crime to be white, a crime to fly your own flag and a crime to have right-wing opinions."They [Antifa] turn up with their faces covered -There is no free speech anymore - not even here."Sirens blared as left wing campaigners chanted "Nazis off our streets" and said there is a "difference between free speech and hate speech."Another right-wing activist who gave his name as Tom, aged 23, said the aim of GI in the UK is to bring about social change."We want to influence what politicians are talking about - we are not a political group. To ban people from entering the UK for a speech they have not yet given is insanity," he said.Sellner, Pettibone and Southern have all been released, but not allowed into the UK.</s>Child refugees who have been turned away from the UK could have their cases reviewed, as the Home Office comes under pressure over the early closure of a programme for child migrants.

Officials will look again at the cases of minors with links to the UK, after it emerged that some 400 unaccompanied children had returned to an infamous migrant camp in Calais in the hope of crossing the Channel.

It comes as the Government faces a backlash over a decision to take just 350 lone children from European refugee camps under the so-called Dubs scheme, after it was expected to accommodate 3,000.

A separate scheme to bring unaccompanied refugee children with family links to the UK under the Dublin convention was also to come to an end.

But the Home Office has said it will reconsider some of the Dublin cases.
Far-right activist and journalist Lauren Southern is detained at Calais and prevented from entering the United Kingdom, with the reason given by the UK Home Office that her presence 'was not conducive to the public good'.