UK revokes Swedish academic Andreas Malm's travel authorisation ahead of London Palestine event

The UK government has revoked the electronic travel authorisation of Swedish climate academic Andreas Malm, author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline, days before he was due to speak at a London event, according to Malm and reports of the decision. Malm said immigration authorities told him only that his presence was not considered conducive to the public good and gave no further explanation. He was scheduled to appear next Wednesday evening on a panel with Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, the group the British government has proscribed. Middle East Eye named the event as "Washington's global reign of terror and Britain's role in reinforcing it" and described Malm as an associate professor of human ecology at Lund University. Malm said he had visited the UK for decades, including for PhD archival research, and appealed for the decision to be overturned. Verso Books, which has published several of his books in Britain, condemned the ban. Malm described the decision as scandalous.

The Guardian, which first reported the ban, leads with Malm's Radio 4 Today interview, in which he called the move a "drift into authoritarianism" and said he was "kept in the dark." It centers his view that the Ammori appearance is the only plausible reason and his claim that the Palestine and climate movements are being targeted. The Times of Israel, in an alternative-side excerpt, frames it differently, noting that Malm hailed the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack as "an act of liberation" while reporting his claim of being banned from his work as an academic. Middle East Eye calls it Labour's crackdown on speakers critical of British support for Israel, uses a "weak and cowardly" headline, names Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government and includes Verso's condemnation. All three report the same core facts. They differ on context: the Guardian stresses civil liberties, Middle East Eye a political crackdown, and the Times of Israel Malm's past statements. Right-leaning outlets had not reported the story at the time of writing.