BANNED American political activists will still be platformed at an Oxford Union event this weekend, the university's president has confirmed.
The University of Oxford’s debating group responded on Tuesday after the left-wing commentators Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur shared that their Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) had been revoked.
Self-described as “the last bastion of free speech”, the Oxford Union was due to host Piker and Uygur for a debate with union members on Saturday, June 6.
The UK Government has not commented on the direct reasoning for the revocation, but it was deemed the pair’s appearance in the country would not be “conducive to public good”.
Piker – who has previously described himself as ‘anti-Israel’ and denies being antisemitic – claims he was banned for “criticising Israel”.
It is now understood that the pair will now address Oxford students over livestream.
Oxford Union president Arwa Elrayess issued a statement on Monday night, stating: “The Oxford Union intended to host Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker on 6 June for a discussion and Head-to-Head event with our members.
"We are deeply concerned by the revocation of both speakers' Electronic Travel Authorisations on the basis that their appearances would not be "conducive to public good.”
She added: “These events had been publicly announced for months. This eleventh-hour call signals much more than democratic decline - it is a direct threat to free expression.
“The Oxford Union was founded on one principle: that ideas are challenged through debate, not silenced by decree. We have never turned a speaker away because of their political beliefs nor have we sought a permission slip from the state. We will not start now.
“This event will not be cancelled. The Union will ensure this discussion takes place. Free speech does not require a visa. We will update our members shortly."
Both speakers also had scheduled appearances at the SXSW London festival earlier in the week. The festival issued a statement on Monday which has been criticised online.
Piker called SXSW “actual fucking losers”, saying they “totally didn’t defend me or Cenk at all”.
Journalist and activist Ash Sarkar was due to host Piker’s panel at SXSW London but pulled out of the festival yesterday following their statement.
In a post made on Twitter/X, Sarkar said: “Having read the SXSW statement on Hasan and Cenk being denied entry to the UK, I'm afraid I have to withdraw my participation. If I were in their shoes, I would hope that any organisation which invited me to speak, and had their programming interfered with by the Home Office, would have had the minimal expected integrity to offer some defence of lawful free expression and condemn government overreach.”
The Econoclasts, a popular economics and current affairs podcast, were also set to platform Piker this Friday a live event in London.
Hosted by former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and journalist Wolfgang Munchau, the event has been cancelled following the Home Office decision.
Varoufakis spoke against Piker’s ban on Twitter/X: “This coming Friday, The Econoclasts (that is, Wolfgang Munchau and I) were to host him at a live event at the Kings Cross Town Hall.
“Alas, the Starmer government decided to ban Hasan from entering the UK. Why? Without even saying so explicitly, they hinted at Hasan's ... antisemitism!
“Join the club Hasan - your ban brings back memories of two years ago when I was banned from entering Germany for the hideous crime of organising, alongside German Jews, a conference on the ultra-subversive topic of the 'A Just Peace in the Middle East'.
"These days, it seems, you are banned as an antisemite if you oppose the Palestinian genocide and the ideology that drives it.”
