LONDON — Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood blocked seven people hoping to attend a far-right rally in central London on Saturday from entering the UK. The Unite the Kingdom event, scheduled for 16 May in central London, is organised by Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

Joey Mannarino and Valentina Gomez had their authorisation to enter the UK withdrawn on the grounds that their presence "would not be conducive to the public good". The identities of the other five banned individuals have not been disclosed.

In a speech, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would ban extremists from coming to Britain to speak at the nationalist march on Saturday. "This is nothing less than a battle for the soul of our nation," Starmer said.

Gomez, 26, a Maga influencer, attended the first Unite the Kingdom rally in London in September last year alongside Robinson, warning from the stage that "rapist Muslims are taking over the UK." Mannarino declared publicly that he would never believe a rape allegation regardless of any court verdict, and spoke at Britain First's March for Remigration events in Birmingham and Manchester last summer.

An estimated 100,000 people attended last year's Unite the Kingdom rally in London, the largest far-right rally of its type in British history. The first rally was addressed remotely by Elon Musk, whom Downing Street later condemned for using language it described as "dangerous and inflammatory."

The march coincides with a Nakba Day event marking the 1948 displacement of Palestinians during the establishment of Israel. Both events are being reviewed by the Metropolitan Police following claims of a risk of public disorder after the Golders Green attacks.