𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Wireless Festival was cancelled this week after its headline artist, Kanye West, had his entry clearance to Britain revoked. The government’s position was that his presence was not “conducive to the public good”. Not surprising. But not uncommon either. Over the years, plenty of controversial figures have been kept out of the UK on broadly similar grounds. Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician, was refused entry in 2009 over fears his anti-Islam rhetoric would threaten public order. Zakir Naik, an Indian preacher, was barred the following year after he made remarks on Osama bin Laden that were seen as supportive of extremism.

On the question of whether Kanye West should have been allowed into the UK, the answer is obvious. Should he have been invited to headline Wireless? No. Should ministers then expect our applause for finally discovering their principles after the organisers made an absurd booking decision? Also, no.

That is the point. The problem here isn’t that the Home Office acted. It’s that this government acts with all the confidence of a person who has only just found their spine in the back of a drawer. When it comes to the US rapper, ministers are suddenly able to identify rhetoric that poisons public life and inflames communal tensions. Yet since October 7, 2023, and the horrifying terror attack on Israel, the country has been expected to tolerate increasingly ugly demonstrations, intimidation on the streets and, frankly, growing antisemitism dressed up as activism – all taking place under the fig-leaf of peaceful political protest.

That, apparently, was all manageable. But Kanye West is where the line is finally drawn. To be clear, this is not an argument for letting him in. He has spent years degrading himself while spreading antisemitic filth to an audience large enough to fill parks and stadiums. And his antisemitism wasn’t a one-off drunken outburst. He praised Hitler. He sold swastika merchandise. He literally released a song titled “Heil Hitler”.

Yet there is a tendency whenever Kanye West is discussed, for the conversation to veer into armchair psychiatry. Does his history of mental illness, in particular bipolar disorder, explain or even justify his sustained antisemitic outbursts? Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not a clinical psychologist and I suspect, neither are most of you. The point isn’t to diagnose West or rationalise why he felt the need to turn antisemitism into a public spectacle. The real issue is public consequence.

A man with his platform shouldn’t get to mass-produce hatred for profit and then ask for a reset because he has, once again, offered a public apology. What makes this case politically interesting isn’t the ban but the selectivity behind it. Britain has previously excluded people from across the ideological spectrum under the same “public good” standard.

The state is plainly willing to use this power. The question is when, and against whom, it suddenly develops the appetite to use it. Because this same government seems far less interested in public order when the disorder is already on our streets and attached to a fashionable cause. Earlier this week, pro-Iran protesters blockaded RAF Lakenheath, with arrests made after demonstrations connected to Palestine Action.

One protester told the BBC they felt compelled to be there because they “want world peace”. So do I, mate. But how exactly is blockading an RAF base conducive to public order? Or did ministers not feel like they could get performative brownie points out of that?

And that is where the government deserves a proper kicking. Because if ministers want credit for keeping out one celebrity antisemite, they should first explain their softness toward the mobs, the sectarian ugliness and the open intimidation that have been allowed to fester on Britain’s streets under the banner of protest. They should explain why ordinary people are expected to endure weeks of menace before the authorities rediscover that public order matters. They should explain why they can suddenly speak so firmly about the “public good” when they have spent months shrinking from far more obvious threats to public order.

Clearly Wireless should never have booked Kanye West. The organisers were either cowardly, cynical or stupid enough to believe that enough time had passed for people to look away from Kanye and his antics. They misjudged it. Spectacularly.

But the government shouldn’t flatter itself either. Barring West was the easy part. Showing the same seriousness toward every other form of extremism and intimidation would require something Labour has so far struggled to display: consistency.