Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash after he called for a ban on some pro-Palestine protests as part of a crackdown on antisemitism.
The prime minister suggested there were “instances” where it was appropriate to prevent such marches happening on UK streets –as they have done in France – as he said he would fight “with every breath I have” for a diverse and tolerant Britain following a series of attacks on Jewish communities in recent weeks, including the Golders Green terror attack.
But even his government’s own independent adviser on antisemitism said it would be “unconscionable” to outlaw peaceful pro-Palestine protests opposing Israel’s actions in the Middle East.
Justice secretary David Lammy wrote in The Independent that the country is “witnessing a pattern of horror” and stated that “antisemitism is racism” in a strongly worded message promising government action.
He vowed that the justice system would “respond with urgency” in a similar manner to the far-right riots of 2024, and stated that those who commit antisemitic hate crimes would be in court “as quickly as possible and face the full force of the law”.
Lord Mann led a chorus of voices who rallied against the idea, including Green Party leader Zack Polanski who accused the Labour leader of threatening “further authoritarian restrictions on peaceful protest”.
Sir Keir’s independent adviser on terrorism, Jonathan Hall, called for a pause on pro-Palestinian marches this week, as did the chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who said they had contributed to a “tone of Jew hatred”.
The deputy prime minister said that the chief rabbi’s words “must be heard”, adding: “Every leader in national life must be prepared to call out antisemitism in their own institutions and act against those responsible.”
He promised: “We will also introduce stronger powers to shut down charities that promote antisemitism, continue working to prevent hate preachers from entering Britain and spreading their vile ideologies, and fast-track laws to tackle threats posed by hostile states who support extremism, like Iran.”
Mr Lammy added that there would need to be “a society-wide rejection of anti-Jewish hatred” for British Jews to feel truly safe.
Lord Mann told The Independent: “There are multiple small anti-Israel (or similar) protests every week. Usually involving a tiny number of people.
“If they are not calling for violence… then it is unconscionable in a democracy that any such concept could be acted upon. The safety and security of the Jewish community requires effective strong leadership – not gestures.”
Mr Polanski accused the prime minister of “using the pain and fear of Jewish people to threaten further authoritarian restrictions on peaceful protest”.
“This would be the worst response to the attacks in Golders Green and would just produce more division, when it’s the job of responsible leaders to bring people together,” he added.
Meanwhile, Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti, the former director of Liberty, the civil liberties and human rights group, warned: “It’s perfectly reasonable for political leaders to urge sensitivity and restraint around protests in the wake of terrorist violence and the fear it breeds. But it is quite another thing to equate protest with violence or to clamp down on peaceful dissent even further.
“I urge the government to lead by example and demonstrate the balanced judgement they recommend to others.”
Organisers of pro-Palestine marches also hit back at the PM.
Protest group Defend Our Juries responded to Sir Keir’s comments on X (Twitter), saying: “End the genocide, not our freedoms to oppose it.”
John Rees, the co-founder and national officer for the Stop The War coalition, warned against striking “at the root of free assembly and free speech” in the UK.
Police in England and Wales can restrict protests and even ban them outright under some circumstances.
The row came as the head of the Metropolitan Police warned British Jews are facing their greatest ever threat in the wake of the terror attack in northwest London.
Sir Mark Rowley said Jews were facing a “ghastly Venn diagram” of hate from all sides. Asked if the threat to the Jewish community was greater than it had ever been before, he said that polling suggesting the prevalence of antisemitic views showed “that has to be true” in an interview with The Times.
Britain’s terror threat has been raised to “severe”, meaning authorities believe an attack in the UK is “highly likely” in the next six months, after the stabbing of two Jewish men in north London.
Sir Keir’s call came in an interview with the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, just days after he was heckled during a visit to Golders Green, where he was met by a group of protesters holding signs and chanting: “Keir Starmer, Jew Harmer.”
Asked if he wanted a crackdown on the chants or to stop some protests altogether, Sir Keir told the BBC: “I think certainly the first, and I think there are instances for the latter.”
He indicated that he wanted “tougher action” over some elements of the marches. “I don’t want to get involved in operational policing, but I think when you see, when you hear some of those chants, ‘globalise the Intifada’ is the one that I would pick out, then clearly there should be tougher action in relation to that,” he said.
He went on: “In relation to the repeated nature of the marches, many people in the Jewish community have said to me ‘it’s the repeat nature, it’s the cumulative effect’. Now I accept that, which is why we intend to deal with cumulative effects.”
He urged “some people protesting to just reflect on what the Jewish community is going through and the overall impact that this is having”. The PM also called for a “whole of society response” saying that “too many people are not seeing antisemitism or they don’t want to see it”.
He said: “We all have to fight for this together because it is about the sort of country that we want to live in. I want to live in the Britain that I love, which is a decent, tolerant, live and let live, diverse Britain. But that is contested now in a way that it hasn’t been contested in my lifetime.
“We have to fight for the Britain that we believe in with those values. That is who we are. That is what it is to be British. And I will fight for that with every breath I have.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the interview showed the prime minister did not “seem to know what to do about” antisemitism in the wake of the terror attack.
“There are things that we can do,” she added. “We can ban hate preachers from this country, stop them from coming in. We can remove visas from those people who are not British, who are here spreading hate and antisemitism. But we need to do more. Enough with the platitudes, we need action. We need to shame people who think antisemitism is acceptable.”
Lord Walney, the government’s former adviser on political violence, said: “The prime minister sounds committed and sincere but he’s not offering anything different. He needs to stop refusing the law changes that would genuinely reduce the harm being caused by these hate-infested marches.”
But Your Party chair Jenn Forbes said her party condemned “all attempts to link the safety of Jewish communities with restrictions on protests for Palestine”.
The Golders Green stabbings are the latest in a series of attacks on Jewish sites since the outbreak of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on Iran and have prompted accusations that the UK government has not done enough to tackle antisemitism.
The Heaton Park synagogue in Greater Manchester was targeted in a terror attack in October last year. In March, four Jewish community ambulances were set alight in Golders Green. There has also been an attempted arson at Finchley Reform synagogue in north London, among others.
On Friday, Sir Mark called for 300 extra officers to tackle the growing antisemitism in the UK. He also said he was considering whether police powers should be used to limit two upcoming protests in London later in May – one a pro-Palestine march and the other a rally led by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
