ZACK Polanski and Jeremy Corbyn have both condemned the Labour Government after a left-wing US speaker they had been due to meet was banned from entering the UK.
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, were both blocked from coming to the UK for the SXSW London 2026 festival by the Home Office.
The UK Government has refused to comment on the cases. However, in a YouTube video, Piker read out a letter he had been sent in which he was told that his “presence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good”.
In the same video, Piker said he had been set to attend events with Corbyn, Polanski, and Yanis Varoufakis during his time in the UK.
Responding to the ban on both Piker and Uygur, Corbyn said it was “an absurd and cowardly decision from an increasingly authoritarian government”.
“Let us call this what it is: An attack on the freedom to criticise Israel, as well as the UK Government’s own complicity in genocide,” the former Labour leader added.
Banning Cenk Uyghur and Hasan Piker from entering the UK is an absurd and cowardly decision from an increasingly authoritarian government. Let us call this what it is: an attack on the freedom to criticise Israel, as well as the UK government’s own complicity in genocide. https://t.co/c6jUrF3prA
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 1, 2026
Polanski, the leader of the Greens in England and Wales, called it a “really grim decision”.
“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,” he went on. “A Labour government doing everything possible to silence criticism of the Israeli government.”
Polanski also shared a comment from LBC host Lewis Goodall, who said: “This is counter-productive, authoritarian and chilling.
“The British state should not be in the business of banning commentators and journalists from entering the country, without compelling reason. Finding their views objectionable is nowhere near enough.”
Green MSP and former Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie called the announcement "very troubling", adding that it "underlines an increasingly authoritarian approach from a Labour government that has already criminalised peaceful protesters for waving banners denouncing the genocide being inflicted on Gaza".
He further said: "This should concern everyone who is committed to free speech and the rights of journalists. The precedent is sets is one that can only have a chilling effect.
"Even people who fundamentally disagree with both men should accept that this is yet another step in the wrong direction and an attack on the right to freely discuss and debate ideas and issues."
The National contributor Owen Jones also reacted, calling the bans on “deeply disturbing for many reasons”.
He went on: “One: another assault on free speech, and specifically pro-Palestinian speech. The assault on pro-Palestinian speech is the biggest assault on free speech in the West since McCarthyism seven decades ago.
“Second: The obvious double standard. An Israeli politician who oversaw genocide? Here's a red carpet! And you can say anything, however murderous, about Palestinians and freely enter.”
Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president who was cited in the genocide submission to the International Court of Justice, was welcomed to the UK by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in September last year.
Labour have also given special diplomatic immunity to top Israeli military officials to allow them to visit the UK without being arrested for war crimes, including to Israeli air force chief Tomer Bar in July 2025.
Jones added: “Britain has helped Israel wipe Gaza from the face of the earth and slaughter Palestinians. How can you be barred from entering the country for supporting what the British government has done?”
Piker and Uygur have both alleged that their bans came due to criticism of Israel.
The Times reported that Uygur had been banned from the UK as he 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 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.
The pair’s bans come 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.
