Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a BBC interview Saturday that some pro-Palestinian marches may need to be banned in the UK.
While saying he strongly supports “the right of peaceful protest and freedom of speech,” Starmer, whose wife is Jewish, voiced his concerns about the effect of the frequent marches on the Jewish community.
The government’s reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall, earlier this week called for a moratorium on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, saying it’s impossible for the protests “not to incubate … antisemitic or demonising language.”
Commenting on Hall’s proposed moratorium, Starmer said, “I think it’s time to look across the board at protests and the cumulative effect.” When asked whether the protests may need to be completely banned, the PM added, “We need to look at what further powers we can take.”
The pressure on the PM to better protect the Jewish community increased after the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green—an area with a large Jewish population—on Wednesday. On Friday, a 45-year-old man of Somali origin was charged with attempted murder over the attacks, which are being classified as terrorism.
While the Conservative Party and Reform UK want a tougher approach to the demonstrations, the Greens and Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party, while condemning the attacks, warned that any government response could not be allowed to restrict civil liberties.
