Kanye West has voiced admiration for Adolf Hitler and made anti-Semitic remarks. Photo / Getty Images
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to block Kanye West’s visa to stop him performing in the UK.
Starmer said it was “deeply concerning” that the controversial US rapper had been booked to headline a London music festival despite his history of anti-Semitism.
He has now been urged by Labour MPs and senior political figures to go further and look at banning the musician from Britain altogether.
West, legally known as Ye, is due to headline Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park, north London, in July – his first UK performances in 11 years.
The booking has provoked a backlash in light of the rapper’s previous anti-Semitic remarks and praise of Adolf Hitler. Last year, he released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.
West’s appearance has prompted Pepsi and Diageo to withdraw their sponsorship of the festival. Pepsi had been promoting the event under the branding “Pepsi presents Wireless”.
It is understood that West is yet to make a visa application for his trip to the UK as of last week. However, the British government has been urged to block the attempt if and when it is made.
Luke Akehurst, the Labour MP for North Durham, told The Daily Telegraph: “It’s certainly an option we should be looking at given he’s gone from being one of the world’s most impressive artists to release a song called Heil Hitler.”
Another Labour MP, who is Jewish, said the potential to block West’s visa “should certainly be explored”.
The British government has the power to ban people from the UK who are “non-conducive to the public good”. The decision is at the discretion of the Home Secretary, but official guidance says grounds for exclusion can include “extremism” and “unacceptable behaviour”.
It would not be the first time West had been banned from a country over his anti-Semitic behaviour. Last year, his Australian visa was revoked after the release of the Heil Hitler song, which included lyrics praising the Nazi dictator.
Lord Austin of Dudley, a former Labour MP who is the UK’s trade envoy to Israel, said the prospect of the rapper being “cheered by thousands of kids” on a British stage was a “complete disgrace”.
“The organisers should cancel his invitation and if not, the council should not allow the festival to go ahead,” he said. “But either way the government should prevent him from coming to the UK.”
Nimco Ali, the British government’s former adviser for tackling violence against women and girls, said: “We should be united in demanding that Wireless Festival reverses this decision immediately. But it cannot stop there. The UK government must also act. Allowing Kanye West entry into the country risks giving him a platform to amplify hate on British soil.
“We know the pattern: Inflammatory statements followed by claims of victimhood when consequences follow. Accountability is not persecution. It is the minimum standard in a society that claims to stand against racism in all its forms.
“If we are serious about protecting the British Jewish community not just in words but in action, then we must be clear. There is no place for this kind of hatred here.”
Starmer told The Sun: “It is deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous anti-Semitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.
“Anti-Semitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted clearly and firmly wherever it appears. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure.”
A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said Starmer was “right to be deeply concerned” about the booking, but insisted that he was “not a bystander” in the situation.
They added: “Pepsi has done the right thing by dropping its sponsorship of the festival, but if management are adamant that they want to headline Kanye West, it is only the government that can stop them.”
West apologised to the Jewish community in a full-page advert in The Wall Street Journal earlier this year, blaming his behaviour on a frontal lobe injury he had sustained in a car crash in 2002.
In the letter to “Those I’ve Hurt”, he said: “I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love Jewish people.”
He had previously apologised for anti-Semitic remarks made in 2022, which included saying he was “going death con 3 on Jewish people” and “I see good things about Hitler”.
Private Meeting Between Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto Shlit”a and Ye, Formerly Known as Kanye West
— Rabbi_Pinto_Official (@rabbi_pinto111) November 6, 2025
During a private conversation on Tuesday with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto Shlit”a, leader of the Shuva Israel institutions, Ye expressed profound remorse for his past statements… pic.twitter.com/PkT8cjY4Bt
In December 2023, he said he deeply regretted any pain caused. However, he retracted his apology a little over a year later, writing on X: “I’m never apologising for my Jewish comments. I can say whatever the f*** I wanna say forever.”
Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, sought to distance himself from the festival booking.
A spokesman said: “We are clear that the past comments and actions of this artist are offensive and wrong, and are simply not reflective of London’s values. This was a decision taken by the festival organisers, and not one that City Hall is involved in.”
In 2015, another rapper – Tyler, The Creator – claimed to have been banned from the UK because of his music.
Baroness May of Maidenhead, then the home secretary, was said to have refused him entry based on lyrics that “encourage violence and intolerance of homosexuality and fosters hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts”.
While not naming the artist directly, a Home Office spokesman said at the time: “Coming to the UK is a privilege, and we expect those who come here to respect our shared values.”
The Home Office refused to comment on individual cases.
Wireless Festival was contacted for comment.
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