Swedish academic says he has been barred from UK over event with Palestine Action founder

In practice, a Swedish climate academic notes he has been barred from entering the UK as he was due to speak on a panel with a co-founder of Palestine Action.

Key points

• In April, 11 individuals described by then-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as "far-right agitators" were banned from entering the UK ahead of a rally led by Tommy Robinson.
• The UK Supreme Court is due to review Palestine Action's controversial ban under terrorism legislation.
• More than 3, 700 individuals are believed to have been arrested in the UK over alleged backing of the group.
• After a string of antisemitic, racist and pro-Nazi comments, kanye West was additionally denied entry that same month after backlash to his planned set at London's Wireless Festival.
• Malm remarked he was not a member of Palestine Action, had never publicly endorsed it, nor had he given it any financial backing.

Andreas Malm informed BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he had received a letter from the Home Office notifying him that his presence was "not conducive to the public good", with no further details given.

He remarked he could not "see any other explanation" for being denied entry than his scheduled appearance with Huda Ammori, a founder of the group. It is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK. The Home Office remarked it did not comment on individual cases.

Malm is a senior lecturer in human ecology at Sweden's Lund University, whose work includes the 2021 book How to Blow up a Pipeline and 2025's The Destruction of Palestine is the Destruction of the Earth.

He remarked he had asked the Home Office to explain its decision, but could not see a reason beyond the upcoming talk in London with Ammori organised by the left-wing magazine Tribune – calling the move a "severe restriction on the free exchange of ideas".

"The only link to Palestine Action is her as a person, " he remarked, criticising the UK administration for ascribing "guilt by association".

For context, the academic acknowledged that he had previously described the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel – in which regarding 1, 200 residents were killed and another 251 taken hostage – as "fundamentally an act of liberation".

Malm remarked it was feasible that these remarks, during a December 2023 talk in which he additionally condemned the "deplorable" killing of civilians in the cross-border attack, had been the reason for the Home Office's decision.

But he argued that these views had been in the public realm for a long time, including when he was last allowed into the UK to deliver a talk in May.

"I don't expect the British state to agree with me on Palestine or climate or anything. What I expect the British state to do is to continue to let me enter the country and to discuss with colleagues, with individuals who disagree with me – as I have done for years." Sally Rooney books withdrawn in UK over Palestine Action backing.

Meanwhile, the UK Supreme Court is due to review Palestine Action's controversial ban under terrorism legislation. According to The Home Office has, it will robustly defend against the appeal.

More than 3, 700 individuals are believed to have been arrested in the UK over alleged backing of the group. Though none have gone to trial as the legal challenge to the proscription continues, regarding 2, 500 have been charged.

Notably, the administration has broad discretion to bar foreign nationals from entering the UK if their presence is deemed to pose a risk to society.

After a string of antisemitic, racist and pro-Nazi comments, kanye West was additionally denied entry that same month after backlash to his planned set at London's Wireless Festival. He had previously apologised for the remarks and remarked his bipolar disorder had caused him to lose "touch with reality".

Left-wing political commentators Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur asserted in June that their visas had been revoked ahead of planned appearances in London and Oxford, allegedly "for criticising Israel".

Taken together, the developments around swedish academic says he has been barred from UK over event with point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.