Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of failing to tackle ‘rampant Islamism’ in a ‘timid’ Government response to anti–Semitism.
The Prime Minister admitted in a new report that anti–Semitism has been ‘rising in recent years’, in many cases driven by ‘hatred of the world’s only Jewish state, Israel‘.
He said that some people have used protests against the Israeli government’s response to the October 7 atrocities as a ‘despicable excuse to threaten British Jews and stoke division and hate in our communities’.
Sir Keir admitted many Jewish people have told him that anti–Semitism has been ‘normalised’ and they now have to ‘hide their Jewish identity’.
In a list of actions to tackle anti–Semitism and protect Jews, the report said the Government would continue to guarantee the £18million a year Jewish Community Protective Security Grant but has also provided an extra £10million in the wake of the ‘horrendous terrorist attack at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester’ in which two Jewish men were killed.
The new Crime and Policing Bill will aim to allow police to stop protests outside places of worship, as well as banning face coverings at marches.
Another £7million has been committed to tackling anti–Semitism in schools, colleges and universities including a fund to tackle misinformation online.
A ‘rapid review’ has also been launched into anti–Semitism in the NHS after Jewish patients and their families ‘reported feeling unsafe or unwelcome’.
Members of the Jewish community comfort each other outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue. In the wake of the October terror attack, the government will provide an extra £10million to guarantee the safety of the Jewish community
An armed police officer outside the Hebrew Congregation synagogue in October. The Prime Minister admitted in a new report that anti–Semitism has been ‘rising in recent years’, in many cases driven by ‘hatred of the world’s only Jewish state, Israel’
Extremists convicted of hate crimes will also be barred from serving as charity trustees after ‘too many shocking cases where extremists have tried to exploit charities to spread hate and division’. But critics pointed out that since last year’s election the Labour Government has failed to ban Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, as had been hoped.
The party’s manifesto had listed the group in a list of ‘threats from hostile states or state–sponsored groups’ and vowed: ‘Labour will take the approach used for dealing with non–state terrorism and adapt it to deal with state–based domestic security threats.’
A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘This is a very disappointing document which does not rise to the gravity of the situation that we find ourselves in after over a decade of inaction by successive governments. This document does not even refer to proscribing terrorist organisations that operate freely here in the UK, which was a manifesto promise that the Government seems to have quietly dropped since it was elected.
‘Extremism and radicalisation have been allowed to take hold to such an extent in this country that the medicine will not be easy to swallow. Tackling problems such as rampant Islamism and two–tier policing requires a recognition that these problems actually exist.’
Sir Keir Starmer lights a candle during a Downing Street event to mark Hanukkah. The PM admitted many Jewish people have told him that anti–Semitism has been ‘normalised’ and they now have to ‘hide their Jewish identity
The spokesman added: ‘This is not an abstract debate about policy. People are dead and it will take more than well–meaning ideas like an ‘innovation fund’ to turn things around.’
And Lord Walney, the Government’s former independent adviser on political violence and disruption, told the Daily Mail: ‘This strategy is too timid at a time when Britain’s besieged Jewish communities are crying out for bold action.
‘It is ironic that the Government’s own strategy says ‘we must be more robust in calling out the hateful ideologies that seek to divide us’ but then completely avoids mentioning the Islamist extremism on display at the Gaza marches.
‘Ministers must stop ignoring the Islamist elephant in the room.’
