Ben Quinn Political correspondent 

Dutch far-right influencer Eva Vlaardingerbroek says she’s been banned from entering UK

Activist, who promotes conspiracy theories and anti-immigration rhetoric online, says her ETA has been revoked
  
  

Vlaardingerbroek speaking at a lectern on which a label says '2024 CPAC Hungary'
Eva Vlaardingerbroek recently described the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, as an ‘evil, despicable man’. Photograph: Szilárd Koszticsák/EPA

A Dutch anti-immigration influencer who has promoted conspiracy theories such as the “great replacement” says she has been banned from the UK.

Eva Vlaardingerbroek posted an image online of what appeared to be a notification from the British government that her UK electronic travel authorisation (ETA) had been cancelled on Tuesday.

“Your presence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good,” it stated.

Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, reposted Vlaardingerbroek’s tweet to his X account. The post linked her previous comments about the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, who she described as an “evil, despicable man”.

“You’re always welcome in Hungary!” said Orban, whose country hosted her and others from the far right and hardline conservative parties in 2024 when she addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Vlaardingerbroek spoke last year in London at Britain’s largest ever far-right protest, organised by the activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

Appearing in a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Generation Remigration” – a reference to a far-right buzzword regarded as a euphemism for forced mass deportations – she said: “They are demanding the sacrifice of our children on the altar of mass migration. Let’s not beat about the bush – this is the rape, replacement, and murder of our people … Remigration is possible, and it’s up to us to make it happen.”

According to immigration experts, the cancellation of an ETA means an individual is ineligible for visa-free travel to the UK. They may be denied entry and must apply for and obtain a UK visa before making any further attempt to travel.

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

The apparent move by the UK’s Home Office could result in a backlash from Vlaardingerbroek’s allies in the US, where figures in the Trump administration have accused Britain of clamping down on free speech.

It was criticised by Liz Truss, the former MP who served as prime minister for 49 days in 2022 and who has become a vocal proponent of increasingly rightwing views since leaving office.

“People who tell the truth about what’s happening in Britain banned from the country,” Truss wrote on X.

Rupert Lowe, the anti-immigration MP who was previously part of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, said he would be questioning why the Dutch activist had been prevented from entering the UK and calling for any such decision to be reversed.

It is not the first time that figures deemed as extremists have been banned from entering the UK.

Earlier this month, an Islamist preacher was banned from the UK after he defended the terrorist group Hamas in the wake of the 7 October terror attack on Israel.

Martin Sellner, a prominent anti-Islamic extremist whose organisation was investigated in Austria over links to the Christchurch shooting suspect, was permanently barred from entering the UK in 2019.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*