Swedish academic Andreas Malm says UK revoked his travel authorisation over Palestine Action panel

Travel authorisation cancelled

Swedish academic Andreas Malm says the UK has barred him from entering the country. In an email seen by Al Jazeera, the Home Office cancelled his Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) on Wednesday, 28 October, saying his "presence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good". The notice gave no further detail, and the Home Office said it does not comment on individual cases. Malm, a senior lecturer in human ecology at Lund University and author of the 2021 book How to Blow Up a Pipeline, said he could see no other reason for the denial than his scheduled appearance with Huda Ammori. He said he had used an ETA first issued in May, which let him return later in the year without reapplying, and that he received no warning before the revocation.

The Home Office told him he would need to apply for a visa, after which it would "consider your circumstances in more detail". The government website gives a three-week processing time for a standard visitor visa, so a decision would not arrive before the panel even if the application were approved.

The Tribune panel and Palestine Action

The London event was organised by the left-wing magazine Tribune and was due to be chaired by Hala Hanina of Palestine Deep Dive. Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, was also scheduled to speak. The panel was set for a Wednesday evening, about a week after the cancellation. Palestine Action is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK. The Court of Appeal upheld the ban in June, and the Supreme Court is due to hear an appeal against it in November. MPs approved the proscription in July 2025 after two planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton. Reports put the number of arrests in Britain over alleged support for the group at more than 3,700.

Malm says he is not a member of Palestine Action, has never publicly endorsed it and has given it no financial support. He rejected any link beyond Ammori herself and criticised the government for applying "guilt by association".

“The only link to Palestine Action is her as a person.”

Remarks on 7 October

Malm acknowledged that during a December 2023 talk he described the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 as "fundamentally an act of liberation". Those attacks on Israel killed about 1,200 people and took another 251 hostage. In the same talk he also described the killing of civilians in that raid as deplorable. He said those remarks might explain the Home Office decision, but argued that his views had been public for a long time, including during his May visit to deliver a talk.

Wider pattern of travel bans

The Financial Times reports that ministers have repeatedly used their powers to bar overseas speakers in recent months, as they try to calm debates around race and religion. Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur, two prominent US pro-Palestinian internet personalities, had permission to travel to the UK withdrawn in May. Earlier this year the Home Office revoked travel authorisation for 11 "far-right agitators" before the Unite the Kingdom march on 16 May, and in April it blocked the US rapper Kanye West. The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs said it was "unable to influence or appeal" against UK immigration decisions.

Malm says he hopes the British state will keep letting him enter the country.

“I don't expect the British state to agree with me on Palestine or climate or anything.”

He said what he does expect is that the UK keeps admitting him to discuss ideas with colleagues and with people who disagree with him.