Starmer urges students not to protest on 7 October
- Published
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has urged students not to join pro-Palestinian protests on Tuesday, the second anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, warning of "rising antisemitism on our streets".
Sir Keir said it was "un-British" to hold protests on the anniversary which, he said, had been used by some as a "despicable excuse to attack British Jews".
The UK is seeing heightened security to protect Jewish communities, following last week's deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
Universities in some parts of the UK are bracing for demonstrations on Tuesday, with students from London colleges planning a joint march in the capital.
Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol are among other cities expecting student protests.
"Time does not diminish the evil we saw that day," Sir Keir wrote in a piece for the Times, external newspaper's Tuesday edition.
"Today, on the anniversary of the atrocities of October 7, students are once again planning protests.
"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."
Sir Keir stressed that the UK would "always stand tall and united" against those seeking to harm Jewish communities.
"Our Jewish communities have also endured rising antisemitism on our streets, in our country," he added.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch warned against "so-called 'protests' that turn into hate marches on our streets".
"Two years on from the horrific massacre on October 7, we must also be honest: the same hatred that fuelled those barbaric attacks still festers today," she said.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick called Tuesday's planned protests a "disgrace".
Andy Burnham, Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, called on the government to provide more money for policing in the region following Thursday's attack on the synagogue.
He said that Greater Manchester Police were under "sustained pressure", and that the government should "consider the funding" of the force so it can continue to provide the "reassurance that all communities are looking for".
He told ITV's Peston programme: "We face similar pressures as the Met with the largest Jewish community outside of London but we don't receive the same exceptional funding to deal with those additional pressures."
On Saturday, nearly 500 people were arrested in central London during protests in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action, the Metropolitan Police reported.
The demonstrations went ahead despite pleas from ministers and police who called for protests to be postponed following the synagogue attack.
Sir Keir's government recognised Palestinian statehood last month, amid international pressure to end the war in Gaza.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Since then, 67,139 people have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says.