KEIR Starmer has threatened to crack down on the chants used at pro-Palestine protests in England.
The Prime Minister revealed on Wednesday that he had asked Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to look at what powers police have to shut down chants.
Speaking during a trip to India, Starmer said: “I’ve asked the Home Secretary to look more broadly at what other powers are available, how they’re being used, and whether they should be changed in any way.
“I think we need to go further than that in relation to some of the chants that are going on at some of these protests.”
It comes after Mahmood announced that police will be given greater powers to smother protests by allowing them to consider the “cumulative impact” of repeated demonstrations.
The Home Secretary said repeated large-scale pro-Palestine protests had caused “considerable fear” for the Jewish community.
The Prime Minister’s calls for protests to be abandoned after a terrorist attack at a Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester went unheeded at the weekend and on October 7, the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died in the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Pro-Palestine protesters frequently chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, which is met with criticism from opponents who argue it calls for an end to the state of Israel.
The Home Secretary has also said she will look at the powers police currently have to shut down protests to ensure they are being applied consistently.
It will spark fresh concerns from human rights campaigners that civil liberties are being eroded in the UK.
Thousands have been arrested at protests for expressing support for the proscribed direct action group Palestine Action.
We told earlier in the week how a woman claimed to have been arrested in London for saying: “I do not support the proscription of Palestine Action”.
While it is illegal to express support for the group, it is not illegal to criticise the move to proscribe it.
The Metropolitan Police was unable to comment on the arrest.
