A controversial Polish rightwing speaker has cancelled a visit to the UK, after MPs and campaigners urged the Home Office to block his entry to the country due to concerns about hate speech.

Rafał Ziemkiewicz, an author and journalist, has been accused of comparing Muslims to “invaders” and expressing homophobic and antisemitic views.

He was due to speak at events in Bristol, Cambridge and London this weekend but all three events were shut down after MPs and local authorities became aware of the nature of his work.

Ziemkiewicz has since tweeted that he would no longer be coming to the UK, describing Britain as “fascist”. Writing in Polish, he said “in this situation it no longer made sense” for him to visit the UK.

One of the events at which Ziemkiewicz was due to talk, in Acton, west London, on Sunday, was cancelled after Rupa Huq, the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, was alerted to it.

Huq said Ziemkiewicz’s presence was not conducive to good race relations and he was “not welcome on these shores”. Ziemkiewicz accused the MP of defaming him and threatened legal action.

Upon hearing that Ziemkiewicz would no longer be arriving in the UK, Huq tweeted:

After threatening to sue me for condemning him then refusing to debate with me head-to-head @GMB the controversial Polish right wing commentator Rafał Ziemkiewicz has cancelled his visit to the UK labelling Britain as fascist. Result. https://t.co/QrjAtVmtVH pic.twitter.com/B5XTzQfp43 — Rupa Huq MP (@RupaHuq) February 16, 2018

In a comment piece for the Guardian to be published on Friday, Huq wrote: “He may be an EU citizen, but even while we remain a member state we have the power to stop people entering the country who pose a threat to public policy or security. A far-right speaker must fit that criteria. The Home Office should have been consistent and banned this visit altogether. Otherwise this imported brand of hate risks becoming the new normal in Brexit Britain.”

Rafał Ziemkiewicz. Photograph: Adrian Grycuk

Ziemkiewicz attempted to move his London event to Slough in Berkshire. But the local MP Tan Dhesi wrote to the home secretary, joining other MPs calling for him to be denied entry.

He wrote: “Islamophobia, antisemitism and racial discrimination are unwelcome in Slough, and detrimental for community cohesion within our town and country.”

Karin Smyth, the MP for Bristol South, confirmed the event in her constituency had been cancelled, saying she had no further comment.

The MP for Cambridge, Daniel Zeichner, expressed similar concern over the event there. He said: “Any individual or group supporting Islamophobia, antisemitism or racial discrimination is not welcome.



“I would pose the question to the organisers of this event whether they believe a speaker that has made anti-Islamic or antisemitic statements will be warmly received in Cambridge. I can assure you that the residents of the city I represent do not support views of this nature in any way.”

A spokesperson for the campaign group Cambridge Unite Against Fascism said: “There should be no place in our diverse society for antisemitism and Islamophobia. We applaud the campaign to get Ziemkiewicz’s meeting cancelled.”

Ziemkiewicz is not the first far-right speaker from Poland who has tried to visit Britain to increase their following. In February last year, Jacek Międlar, a former priest, was detained at Stansted airport. He has accused Muslims of running grooming gangs in the UK.



Fiyaz Mughal, the founder of Faith Matters, which works to reduce extremism, said: “The big risk is clearly the targeting of local settled British communities of Polish heritage. These guys are trying to infiltrate them with far-right rhetoric. It’s extreme under Home Office definition … the comments are anti-LGBT and antisemitic.”

Weyman Bennett, the joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism, said: “The growth in antisemitism, xenophobia and Islamophobia in Europe is something we must combat. It is welcome news that a person who made a ‘joke’ about Auschwitz and appears to blame Jews for their own suffering has cancelled his speaking tour here.”