Cenk Uygur calls UK entry ban 'haunting and hilarious'

A leftwing US political commentator has described the UK government’s decision to ban him from entering the country as “haunting and hilarious” and “Kafkaesque”.

Cenk Uygur, the founder and a host on Young Turks, a well-established progressive media outlet, was banned earlier this week from entering the UK to attend a speaking engagement alongside Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who has become a popular figure on the US political left.

The decision by the Home Office to cancel their electronic travel authorisations (ETA) because their presence in the UK “may not be conducive to the public good” has led to questions over government censorship of free speech, been criticised by the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, as “grim”, and described by the free speech advocates Index on Censorship as a “worrying escalation”.

When asked about the government’s decision on Thursday morning by Sky News, Uygur said: “It’s both a little bit haunting and hilarious at the same time.

“I don’t really know what I’m being charged with here,” he added. “Am I really not going to be allowed in Britain from now on? And how is someone who is almost religiously for nonviolence a threat to the public order?”

The government has not commented on the specific reasons for the ban against Uygur, who travelled to the UK in 2025. Both Uygur and his nephew, Piker, were due to appear at SXSW London and will now speak virtually at an event run by the Oxford Union Society which they were due to attend.

Any foreign national wanting to visit the UK needs permission to do so, either in the form of a visa or an ETA. Both can be refused for several reasons. The rules include wide discretionary powers for the home secretary to exclude individuals on the basis that their presence is “not conducive to the public good because of their conduct, character, associations or other reasons”.

The government blocked 11 foreign far-right activists from entering the UK in May before a rally by Tommy Robinson, whom Keir Starmer has accused of “peddling hatred and division”.

Earlier this year, Kanye West was blocked from coming to the UK on grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good, prompting an outcry and the cancellation of the Wireless music festival. The rapper has been criticised for making antisemitic remarks, including voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler, and has apologised for his antisemitic behaviour.

Uygur, a 56-year-old activist and lawyer, has criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” and “savage”. He has said his criticisms are confined to an analysis of Israeli influence over US policymaking.

When asked if the UK government’s decision was made over his views of Israel, Uygur said: “There’s no question.”

While he had been given no reason by the government for the cancellation of his ETA, Uygur said that the Times, which first reported the ban on Monday, cited fears his presence “could fuel antisemitism” and that the decision was based on several grounds, including “antisemitic tropes” after the attacks on Israel by Hamas on 7 October 2023, as well as comments about grooming gangs that Uygur made on Piers Morgan’s YouTube show.

Uygur said: “I’m curious if the British government is ever going to list the acceptable and unacceptable ways of criticising Israel and if they have these standards for any other country.

“Obviously this is Kafkaesque, it’s Orwellian, and then the question is why? Why is your government, and also my government in America, so obsessed with this tiny, little country and whether their feelings have been hurt?”

He added: “How about the feelings of the Palestinians, or the Lebanese as they’re being invaded by Israel right now, or Iran as they’re being attacked by Israel right now; are we not concerned about their feelings?”