Leftwing US commentator calls decision to ban him from UK ‘Kafkaesque’

Cenk Uygur and his nephew Hasan Piker will now speak virtually at an event run by the Oxford Union Society. Composite: Brian Cahn/Zuma/Alamy/Sam Barnes/Web Summit/Getty View image in fullscreen Cenk Uygur and his nephew Hasan Piker will now speak virtually at an event run by the Oxford Union Society. Composite: Brian Cahn/Zuma/Alamy/Sam Barnes/Web Summit/Getty Leftwing US commentator calls decision to ban him from UK ‘Kafkaesque’ Cenk Uygur was due to appear at SXSW alongside streamer Hasan Piker but Home Office cancelled travel authorisation UK politics live – latest updates 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. Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker: the US commentators banned from the UK – podcast Read more “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 from the UK 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, promoting an outcry and the cancellation of the Wireless music festival. The rapper has been criticised for making antisemitic