Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has suggested that some protests may need to be banned, following calls to suspend pro-Palestinian marches. In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Starmer stated he would “look across the board at protests” and consider further powers to address the “cumulative effect” of repeated marches on the Jewish community.
“I think certainly the first, and I think there are instances for the latter,” Starmer said when asked about tougher policing of language at protests and whether some protests should be stopped altogether. He emphasized his commitment to defending peaceful protest but expressed concern about the impact of recurring demonstrations.
The remarks come after two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green, north London, on Wednesday. Essa Suleiman, 45, has been charged with attempted murder in connection with the attack, which police have declared a terror incident.
The government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, has called for a “moratorium” on pro-Palestinian marches, arguing it is currently “impossible” for them not to incubate antisemitism. Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis also backed a temporary ban, telling the BBC the marches had contributed to a “tone of Jew hatred” in the UK.
A review into public order and hate crime legislation, commissioned after two Jewish people were killed near a Manchester synagogue last year, was expected to report in February but has not yet been published. Starmer indicated the government would examine what further powers could be taken to address the situation.
Reactions to Starmer’s comments were mixed. The Stop the War Coalition, which helped organize many pro-Palestinian marches, condemned antisemitism but rejected linking the marches to attacks on Jews. Green Party leader Zack Polanski accused Starmer of using “the pain and fear of Jewish people to threaten further authoritarian restrictions on peaceful protest.” The Liberal Democrats urged careful scrutiny of protests by police, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for an outright ban, warning that attacks like those in Golders Green and Manchester would continue otherwise.
Additionally, Starmer condemned chants such as “globalise the intifada,” calling them “very dangerous” to the Jewish community and suggesting they should be prosecuted. “If you are on a march or a protest where people are chanting, ‘globalise the intifada,’ you do have to stop and ask yourself, why am I not calling this out?” he said.