BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Why 3 anti-Islam activists were refused entry to the UK

  • Published
    14 March 2018
Share page
About sharing
Brittany Pettibone, Lauren Southern, and Martin SellnerImage source, Facebook
Image caption,

Left to right: Brittany Pettibone, Lauren Southern, and Martin Sellner

ByBBC Trending
Going in-depth on social media

Three activists with big social media followings from Austria, Canada and the US have been barred from entering the United Kingdom, in a move that some say is part of a crackdown on the far right.

Brittany Pettibone and her boyfriend, Martin Sellner, were refused entry to the UK when they landed at Luton Airport on Friday. They were detained for two days, and then deported. Another activist, Lauren Southern, was refused entry by the Border Force near Calais on Monday. She had planned to meet with the couple and the former leader of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson.

Sellner, an Austrian and prominent figure in the anti-migration group Generation Identity, was due to make a speech in Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park. He was the leader of a "Defend Europe" campaign last summer, responsible for targeting boats run by NGOs trying to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.

On his social media accounts, Robinson says he plans to deliver Sellner's speech in Hyde Park on Sunday.

In a statement about the activists, a Home Office spokesperson said: "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."

Pettibone, an American, tweeted an image of the letter she says was handed to her by an immigration officer. It states that her planned activities posed "a serious threat to the fundamental interests of society and are likely to incite tensions between local communities in the United Kingdom".

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post by Brittany Pettibone

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post by Brittany Pettibone

The letter also cites Sellner's possession of leaflets which referenced "possible violence at his speech" and calls Robinson "a far right leader whose materials and speeches incite racial hatred." Pettibone was one of the most prominent online voices spreading the "pizzagate" conspiracy theory which falsely claimed that top Democratic officials were keeping child sex slaves underneath a Washington, DC pizza restaurant.

line

You might also be interested in

  • Far-right 'moving increasingly online'

  • Campus battlegrounds - Who's behind the fighting at US universities?

  • 'I went undercover in the alt-right'

line

Southern says she was questioned under the Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, on her political views and her opinion on right-wing terrorism. She tells BBC Trending that she was refused entry on the grounds of her involvement "in the distribution of racist material in Luton".

In February, the Canadian activist displayed flyers saying "Allah is a gay god" outside a restaurant in the town centre. Southern, who has nearly half a million subscribers on YouTube and regularly posts politically charged stunts, says this was part of a "social experiment" video.

Brittany Pettibone (left), Lauren Southern (middle) and British activist Caolan Robertson (right), at a stall in Luton town centreImage source, Twitter
Image caption,

Brittany Pettibone (left), Lauren Southern (middle) and British activist Caolan Robertson (right), at a stall in Luton town centre

Like Pettibone and Sellner, Southern was informed that her actions "present a threat to the fundamental interests of society" by Border Force.

She tells BBC Trending she believes the government has a "political grudge" against Pettibone, Sellner and herself.

"I would hope that [the UK] would be pro-freedom of speech, and support people's right to question Islam, to even have cheeky posters, make jokes and social experiments, to give a speech at Speakers Corner," says Southern.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 2 by Lauren Southern

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 2 by Lauren Southern

'Softer' targets?

Nick Lowles, chief executive of the anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate, says there has been a shift in who the UK government considers to be a threat. He says that "during the last two to three years the government has taken a very strong position against hard-line neo-Nazis, extreme Holocaust deniers, banning many who've attempted to enter the UK."

"What's new about the banning of Generation Identity activists such as Martin Sellner, Brittany Pettibone, and their increasingly alt-right friend Lauren Southern, is that the government has signalled that it's going after 'softer' targets on the hard right," says Lowles.

"These are people who have huge reach on social media, they are peddlers of online hate, and as our recent State of Hate report highlighted, the online reach of right-wing hate preachers can have disastrous consequences."

"The irony is that the far right have long called for the British government to take firm control of our borders. Now they are doing just that."

The activists were prevented from entering the UK at a time of rising concern about far-right violence. Last month, Mark Rowley, the former head of counter-terrorism policing in the UK, warned of the growing threat of far-right terrorism.

"Islamist and right-wing extremism is reaching into our communities through sophisticated propaganda and subversive strategies creating and exploiting vulnerabilities that can ultimately lead to acts of violence and terrorism," he said.

More from Trending: Mum's bullying campaign leads to 'honesty' app ban

Katrina CollinsImage source, Katrina Collins

A wildly popular anonymous messaging app has been removed from the Apple and Google stores after accusations that it has been facilitating bullying. READ NOW

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Gaza ceasefire to begin within 24 hours of cabinet approval, Israeli spokesperson says

    • 15624 viewing16k viewing
  • Lyse Doucet: Gaza deal is a huge moment but this is just the beginning

    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • What we know about the 'first phase' of the Gaza peace deal

    • Published
      7 hours ago

More to explore

  • Stars, secrets and slip-ups: Celebrity Traitors is off to a cracking start

    Alan Carr on the Celebrity Traitors, sitting in an armchair and smiling
  • Young children taking knives to school, BBC finds

    Graphic: Knives in foreground, in background children sitting at school desks.
  • 'It was like a movie' - How immigration raid on Chicago apartments unfolded

    Image of law enforcement officer pointing a gun, with sparks in the background
  • Inside the room where Nobel Peace Prize is decided – but will Trump get his wish?

    Members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee and secretary sit around a table in the room where they make their decision
  • 'I missed a £100 council tax bill while in hospital – the debt ballooned to £6k'

    A young man, with long dark brown hair and a brown beard and moustache , sits next to a hospital bed. He has a bandage on his neck.
  • My eating disorder made me good at lying, says Victoria Beckham

    Victoria Beckham waves while wearing a white suit with other people in the background as she attends the Victoria Beckham premiere in London on Wednesday.
  • The battle for Scotland's flag: Why the right has adopted the saltire

    A man raises his fist while standing in front of a group of people waving flags, including saltires and a union flag.
  • Would leaving the ECHR really 'stop the boats'?

    Montage image showing Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer
  • The Upbeat newsletter: Start your week on a high with uplifting stories delivered to your inbox

    A graphic of a wave in the colours of yellow, amber and orange against a pink sky
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    My eating disorder made me good at lying, says Victoria Beckham

  2. 2

    America's top banker sounds warning on US stock market fall

  3. 3

    'I missed a £100 council tax bill while in hospital – the debt ballooned to £6k'

  4. 4

    Pubs could stay open longer under licensing reforms

  5. 5

    Water bills to rise further for millions after appeal

  6. 6

    What we know about the 'first phase' of the Gaza peace deal

  7. 7

    Hate crime in England and Wales rises for first time in three years

  8. 8

    Stars, secrets and slip-ups: Celebrity Traitors is off to a cracking start

  9. 9

    Lyse Doucet: Gaza deal is a huge moment but this is just the beginning

  10. 10

    Have Russians set up a military base in my childhood home?

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

The Celebrity Traitors

  • An all-star cast enters the ultimate game of deceit

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • All the betrayal and drama unpacked

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked
  • Meet the Celebrity Traitors as the mind games begin

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • A treacherously good version of a pop classic

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    BBC Proms has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    BBC Proms 2025: Britney Spears
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.