Climate academic Andreas Malm barred from entering UK before planned London talk
Andreas Malm, a climate academic, has been barred from entering the UK shortly before he was due to speak at a London event alongside a co-founder of Palestine Action, The Guardian reported on 30 October 2026.
Malm is an associate professor of human ecology at Lund University in Sweden and the author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline. According to the Guardian's report, UK immigration officials told him that his presence in the country "may not be considered to be conducive to the public good," a phrase used in decisions about whether someone may enter the country.
The event was a conference organised by Tribune magazine, at which Malm was due to headline. Its subject was Washington's global actions and Britain's role in them. Malm was also due to speak with Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, about the UK government's ban on that group. The discussion was timed to coincide with the start of a challenge to the ban in the Supreme Court, the country's highest court.
The Financial Times reported on 29 October that the appearance was scheduled for the following week. While in London, Malm was also due to be interviewed for BBC Radio 4's Radical programme, presented by Gabriel Gatehouse.
Novelist Sally Rooney has withdrawn her books from sale in the UK over her support for Palestine Action. She described the decision to bar Malm as a "sad and frightening act of cultural self-harm."
The Guardian's report also noted that Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker were barred from the UK earlier in 2026 on the grounds that their presence may not be conducive to the public good.
The Home Office, the government department responsible for immigration, said it does not discuss individual cases. In response to the Malm decision, it said it would not comment on the specifics of his case.
