Swedish climate scholar blocked from UK after planned panel with Palestine Action founder
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Andreas Malm, a senior lecturer at Lund University, says the UK Home Office denied him entry and offered no real explanation, in what he believes was a political move tied to his scheduled appearance with a co-founder of the proscribed group Palestine Action.
Swedish climate academic Andreas Malm said the UK Home Office has refused him entry, claiming his presence would be "not conducive to the public good". Malm, a senior lecturer in human ecology at Lund University, was due to speak on a panel organized by the left-wing magazine Tribune alongside Huda Ammori, a founder of Palestine Action, which is designated a terrorist organisation in the UK.
Malm told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he had asked the Home Office for an explanation but received none, and he believes the decision is linked to the upcoming talk. He stressed that he is not a member of Palestine Action, has not endorsed the group, and has not provided it with financial support.
"The only link to Palestine Action is her as a person," Malm said, denouncing the government's move as a textbook case of "guilt by association".
Malm acknowledged that he previously described the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 as "fundamentally an act of liberation" during a December 2023 discussion, while also condemning civilian casualties. He suggested those remarks might have influenced the Home Office's action, though he noted he had been allowed to enter the UK for a talk in May.
"I don't expect the British state to agree with me on Palestine or climate or anything. What I expect the British state to do is to continue to let me enter the country and to discuss with colleagues, with people who disagree with me - as I have done for years," he said.
The UK Supreme Court is set to review the ban on Palestine Action under terrorism legislation, and the Home Office has indicated it will defend the proscription. The government retains broad discretion to bar foreign nationals whose presence is deemed a risk to society, a power critics say can be used to silence dissent and police political speech.