Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged students not to protest on the second anniversary of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on Israel, describing planned demonstrations as 'un-British'. Writing in the Times, he said the protests showed a lack of respect for others and had been used by some as a 'despicable excuse to attack British Jews'.
Starmer's comments come as pro-Palestine protests are scheduled at universities on Tuesday. He stated: 'This is not who we are as a country. It’s un-British to have so little respect for others. And that’s before some of them decide to start chanting hatred towards Jewish people all over again.'
The anniversary follows a terror attack outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester last week, where two people were killed. The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has pledged to give police greater powers to restrict protests, citing 'considerable fear' among the Jewish community.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick called the planned protests 'a fucking disgrace', while education secretary Bridget Phillipson encouraged participants to 'pause and reflect'. The government will amend the Public Order Act 1986 to allow police to consider the cumulative impact of frequent protests.
