Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker: the US commentators banned from the UK – podcast

The leftwing American commentator Cenk Uygur talks about the ban on him and his nephew, Hasan Piker, entering the UK this week. With reporting from Kiran Stacey

“We’re not allowed to put you on the plane,” said the woman at the terminal. “You can’t board because the British government has withdrawn your ETA.” This is how, at LAX airport, the leftwing commentator Cenk Uygur learned he had been banned from the UK.

As he tells Lucy Hough , he and his nephew Hasan Piker , a hugely popular streamer, had been due to speak in the UK this week. But both were barred by the Home Office , with their presence deemed “not conducive to the public good” – reportedly for past remarks about Israel deemed by some to be antisemitic, an accusation they both deny.

The Guardian’s policy editor, Kiran Stacey , outlines the reasoning – and the politics – behind the Home Office’s decision.