Labour MP lobbied revoke visas for political commentators

Labour MP David Taylor apparently has no problem with Israeli genocidaires and returning IOF reservists visiting Britain, but American content creators and political commentators are one step too far.

Last week, Taylor called for Hasan Piker to be banned from entering the UK, claiming that his presence would be “not conducive to the public good”. When Shabana Mahmood obliged by revoking the visas of Piker and Cenk Uygur, another political commentator, Taylor thanked the Home Secretary. The Community Support Trust lobby group also celebrated the decision, stating that Piker “exceeded the bounds of acceptable discourse”.

The Board of Deputies’ statement applauding the ban was issued by their acting president, Adrian Cohen, who said that “where event organisers have failed to show responsibility, it is right that government step in”. Cohen also happens to be the chair of Labour Friends of Israel.

Adrian Cohen is listed as one of the Labour Friends of Israel company directors responsible for “financial oversight and governance”. Another is Jennifer Gerber, who was a senior special adviser to Andy Burnham throughout his time in government. LFI say they are funded by “those who share our commitment to the State of Israel”.

Next week, David Taylor will complete a three-month stint at the Coalition for Global Prosperity, where he has been working as a policy advisor alongside his role as a Labour MP. Their CEO is Ryan Henson, a British-American Project Fellow. In 2015, a British-American Project event was addressed by one of their most high-profile members: Peter Mandelson.

Follow the money

In 2022, the Coalition for Global Prosperity received over £1 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In turn, the CGP has donated to twelve British MPs. These included Rosie Wrighting, the parliamentary private secretary to Wes Streeting who resigned one day after the Health Minister.

Before the 2024 general election, the Hemel Hempstead Labour Party secured £10,000 from Labour Together. Their board of directors then included Jonathan Kestenbaum, a Labour peer and ex-IDF soldier who reportedly “settled in Israel” in 1985. That money got David Taylor elected.

Another Labour Together director was Trevor Chinn. In June 2020, Kestenbaum and Chinn were amongst a group of “community leaders” invited to a Zoom call with Starmer and Morgan McSweeney. Five months after Starmer’s election as Labour leader, Chinn was awarded the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honour.

Jonathan Kestenbaum and Trevor Chinn both donated to Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership campaign in 2020. Now, through Labour Together, they were able to fund a new cohort of acquiescent MPs who would be loyal to the Prime Minister. David Taylor was one of them.

Taylor previously worked as an aide to Gordon Brown. In 2008, Brown became the first British Prime Minister to personally travel to address the Israeli Knesset. He said in his speech: “I am proud to say that for the whole of my life, I have counted myself a friend of Israel.”

Labour — Two tier Keir

In 2025, the Labour government issued a “special mission” certificate to Israeli general Tomer Bar, protecting him from any potential prosecution during a secret visit to Britain. Unlike American streamers, his presence was apparently not considered a threat to social cohesion in Britain. Bar had previously instructed pilots coming back from air strikes on Iran to dump unused bombs over Gaza before landing.

The banning of Piker and Uygur is further confirmation that the Labour administration of “two-tier Keir” is now operating a dual standard for visitors to the UK; whereas those who have served in the Israeli military are welcomed with open arms, commentators who are critical of the Israeli government are routinely banned.

Welcome to Starmer’s Britain, 2026.

Jody McIntyre is an investigative journalist whose work can be found at jodymcintyre.substack.com. He stood at the 2024 UK general election, receiving over 10,000 votes.

Featured image via the Canary