Rishi Sunak warned that Islamist and far-right extremists are undermining British democracy, as he urged police to take a tougher approach to the protest marches since the Israel-Hamas war. In a rare and suddenly arranged speech in Downing Street late Friday, Sunak said the UK’s “streets have been hijacked by small groups” who are threatening to “tear us apart.” He said his government would announce a more robust framework this month for policing the protests, which have become a regular weekend feature in many British cities but especially in London.
“This situation has gone on long enough,” he said, telling protesters directly that “threats of violence and intimidation are alien to our way of doing things.”
The intervention, broadcast live, appeared designed to try to retake the initiative after a febrile period in British politics, ahead of a UK election expected this year. An effort to more strictly manage pro-Palestine protests, which police have said have at times included anti-semitic slurs and other hate crimes, will likely be supported by many Conservative voters and beyond.
“You cannot call for violent jihad,” Sunak said, adding: “There is no context in which it can be acceptable to beam anti-Semitic tropes onto Big Ben.” Protesters had projected the contentious phrase “from the river to the sea” on the monument during a parliamentary vote on a ceasefire in Gaza last week.
But it’s also the case that raising the issue of threats and insecurity in relation to the Israel-Hamas war is more politically advantageous to Sunak’s Tories than it is to the poll-leading opposition Labour Party. Leader Keir Starmer has struggled to keep his party aligned on his stance on Gaza, gradually shifting toward calling for a ceasefire as the geopolitics shifted.
Sunak’s statement came hours after left-wing serial disrupter George Galloway won a parliamentary election in Rochdale, northwest England, after a chaotic campaign that was dominated by tensions over the Israel-Hamas war. Labour ditched its candidate there after a recording emerged of him repeating a conspiracy theory implying that Israel was complicit in Hamas’ Oct 7 attack.
Galloway’s return to Parliament is awkward for all parties, but especially Labour, who kicked the pro-Palestinian activist out more than two decades ago over his comments about the Iraq war.
“This situation has gone on long enough,” he said, telling protesters directly that “threats of violence and intimidation are alien to our way of doing things.”
The intervention, broadcast live, appeared designed to try to retake the initiative after a febrile period in British politics, ahead of a UK election expected this year. An effort to more strictly manage pro-Palestine protests, which police have said have at times included anti-semitic slurs and other hate crimes, will likely be supported by many Conservative voters and beyond.
“You cannot call for violent jihad,” Sunak said, adding: “There is no context in which it can be acceptable to beam anti-Semitic tropes onto Big Ben.” Protesters had projected the contentious phrase “from the river to the sea” on the monument during a parliamentary vote on a ceasefire in Gaza last week.
But it’s also the case that raising the issue of threats and insecurity in relation to the Israel-Hamas war is more politically advantageous to Sunak’s Tories than it is to the poll-leading opposition Labour Party. Leader Keir Starmer has struggled to keep his party aligned on his stance on Gaza, gradually shifting toward calling for a ceasefire as the geopolitics shifted.
Sunak’s statement came hours after left-wing serial disrupter George Galloway won a parliamentary election in Rochdale, northwest England, after a chaotic campaign that was dominated by tensions over the Israel-Hamas war. Labour ditched its candidate there after a recording emerged of him repeating a conspiracy theory implying that Israel was complicit in Hamas’ Oct 7 attack.
Galloway’s return to Parliament is awkward for all parties, but especially Labour, who kicked the pro-Palestinian activist out more than two decades ago over his comments about the Iraq war.
