Two US left-wing broadcasters blocked from entering the UK by Home Office

Left-wing commentators Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur have been barred from entering the UK by the Home Office.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood cancelled the two US commentators' Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) on the grounds that their presence in the UK "may not be conducive to the public good".

Both men were booked to appear at South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in London before their entry was revoked.

Piker was listed as among the speakers at an event called How The American Left Learned To Speak The Internet, while Uygur was due to take part in a discussion called Techno-Feudalism Is Here. Who Are The Lords?

Uygur posted on X to say he had attempted to board a flight to the UK, and said he was "banned for criticising Israel". He also called the move "oppression... on behalf of a different country".

Piker, his nephew, responded and said his visa had also been revoked "at the behest of Israel", and added: "The West is betraying 'liberal values' for a genocidal fascist foreign government."

UK government sources rejected claims that the decision to revoke their ETA's was due to criticism of the Israeli government.

President of the Oxford Union, Arwa Elrayess, said it had been planning to host Uygur and Piker on 6 June.

She said: "We are deeply concerned by the revocation of both speakers' Electronic Travel Authorisations on the basis that their appearances would not be 'conducive to the public good'.

"These events had been publicly announced for months. The eleventh-hour call signals much more than democratic decline - it is a direct threat to free expression."

She then said the event would not be cancelled and members would be updated.

Piker is best known for his left-wing political commentary on Twitch and YouTube. A controversial figure, he once said in 2019 that the US "deserved 9/11" over American intervention in the Middle East - which he later apologised for and said was "inappropriate".

He has been accused of supporting Hamas - proscribed as a terrorist group in the UK - after he told Pod Save America that the Palestinian group were "1,000 times better than Israel" and that he would "vote for Hamas over Israel every single time".

Piker has also been accused of antisemitism over his criticism of Israel, which he strongly denies.

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Uygur is the host of The Young Turks, a US left-wing digital news channel, and has also been accused of antisemitism by propagating tropes by claiming Israel controls America, including by financial means.

He had also appeared to dismiss evidence relating to grooming gangs in towns such as Rotherham in an interview with Piers Morgan - which Sky News understands to have been a factor in the decision to cancel his ETA - and said concerns about the issue were "Islamophobic".

Labour MP David Taylor, who had called on the home secretary to block Piker specifically, wrote on X: "There's no reason to open our doors to those who seek to spread hate and division, especially to those who've supported a proscribed terror group."

Green Party leader Zack Polanski added: "This is a really grim decision alongside Cenk. People often talk about (the) dangerous road we'd go down under a Reform government - this is another clear warning we're down there already.

"A Labour government doing everything possible to silence criticism of the Israeli Government."

A SXSW London spokesperson said: "Decisions on entry to the UK are a matter for the Home Office and the individuals concerned.

"SXSW London's role is to convene a broad range of diverse voices and perspectives."

(c) Sky News 2026: Two US left-wing broadcasters blocked from entering the UK by Home Office