THE UK Government has blocked two prominent left-wing activists from entering the country, allegedly because of their comments on Israel.
Hasan Piker, a political streamer with 1.9 million YouTube subscribers, and Cenk Uygur, the co-founder of the left-wing political programme The Young Turks, both said they had been blocked from entering the UK.
Uygur wrote on social media: “I’ve been banned from the UK. I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore?
“This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!”
I’ve been banned from the UK. I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) May 31, 2026
He then claimed the UK Government’s reasons for blocking his visa were “deeply ironic and incredibly flimsy”. “Under their reasoning, 60% of Americans and billions of people in the world can be banned from UK for criticizing Israel,” Uygur added.
The Times reported that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had decided to ban Uygur from the UK as it could “risk exacerbating antisemitism due to his rhetoric”, as well as “concerning” comments about grooming gangs, and alleged “misogynistic slurs” he has made in the past.
Piker, who is known online as HasanAbi and previously worked with The Young Turks, said the UK had also revoked his visa “at the behest of Israel”.
Piker added: “The west is betraying ‘liberal values’ for a genocidal fascist foreign government. Soon we will all become Israel.”
In a video uploaded to YouTube, the streamer said he had been set to attend events with Jeremy Corbyn, Zack Polanski, and Yanis Varoufakis.
He read out a letter from the UK Government saying: “Your UK ETA has been cancelled. This means you cannot travel to the UK without a visa. This is because your presence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good. You cannot appeal this decision.”
Piker has faced a backlash over some of his comments, including reportedly saying on a livestream in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11”, which he later acknowledged as “inappropriate”.
He said last month that he stood by comments that Hamas was “1000 times better” than Israel and that he “would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time” in an episode of Pod Save America.
He said he is not antisemitic but “anti-Israel” in an interview with Variety last year.
Labour MP David Taylor had called for Piker to be banned from the UK. “It’s shocking that SXSW would invite someone who has openly supported a proscribed terrorist organisation and spouted these kinds of vile antisemitic rants to speak at their festival,” the MP said last week.
“With the unacceptable rise in antisemitism on our streets leaving British Jews in a constant state of anxiety, Hasan Piker is clearly not conducive to the public good.
It comes after Kanye West, who has used Nazi imagery and faced accusations of antisemitism, was barred from travelling to the UK to headline Wireless festival.
The UK Government also blocked 11 foreign nationals described by Keir Starmer as “far-right agitators” from entering the UK ahead of a Tommy Robinson-led rally in central London last month.
Those claiming to have been barred include Polish politician Dominik Tarczynski, Belgian politician Filip Dewinter, anti-Islam commentator Valentina Gomez, and Dutch activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek.
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
