UK bars Swedish climate scholar from entering country ahead of London conference: Report

Swedish climate scholar Andreas Malm has been barred from entering the UK ahead of a planned appearance at a London conference, with immigration officials saying his presence "may not be considered to be conducive to the public good," The Guardian reported Friday. Malm was scheduled to speak alongside Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, a group banned under UK law, at a conference organized by Tribune magazine next week. The event was set to discuss the impact of Palestine Action's proscription and coincide with a Supreme Court challenge to the group's designation.

Malm, an associate professor of human ecology at Lund University in Sweden, was notified of the decision before traveling to the UK. He described the decision to deny him entry as "scandalous" and urged the government to reverse it, saying he had traveled to the country for decades for academic research, lectures and conferences. Author Sally Rooney criticized the decision as "a sad and frightening act of cultural self-harm." The Home Office declined to comment on individual cases, according to the report.