LONDON: The UK government could give powers to police to crack down on chants at pro-Palestine protests.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told reporters new measures drawn up by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to take into account the “cumulative” impact of demonstrations could go even further than initially announced.
It comes after protests across the UK in support of the Palestinian cause and the banned group Palestine Action, which the prime minister had called for not to go ahead after a terrorist attack at a synagogue in Manchester killed two people last week.
Mahmood called the decision to press on with the protests “un-British” and “dishonourable,” and said new powers would let police re-route or ban marches in future if deemed too disruptive. The Metropolitan Police said 492 people were arrested in London for their part in the protests.
“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,” Starmer told reporters in Mumbai. Among the chants that could come under scrutiny are “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “globalise the intifada,” both of which have been interpreted by some as calls to kill Jewish people.
“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,” Starmer said.
He added that police could even be allowed to take more action to curb protests of their own volition, including placing time limits on protests or curbing the number of attendees.
“That has to be part of the review that we carry into what powers do we have and how they’re being exercised. And then the question of do any of these powers therefore need to be changed or enhanced?
“And that’s the exercise we’re going through. But we are talking at length to leaders of the Jewish community about this, as you would expect.”
He added: “I think we need to review more broadly public order powers and there will be a series of actions that we will agree in due course across Whitehall.”
The prime minister wrote in The Times on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which marked the start of Israeli operations in Gaza, that more would be done to tackle antisemitism in the UK.
“We will continue to fund the security of Jewish schools and synagogues and take every possible step to stand up to this hatred wherever it is found,” he said.
The announcement has been met with criticism from several human rights organizations.
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “The British government is spending more time considering how to restrict protests against genocide than stopping its own complicity.
“We will resist their attempts to restrict our fundamental democratic rights — on Saturday we march in London once again.”
Defend Our Juries, the group behind the protest on behalf of Palestine Action, said the prime minister’s statement “shows what we’ve warned about all along: that proscribing Palestine Action would pave the way for further authoritarian crackdowns on our rights to free speech in this country.”
Sam Grant, director of external relations at Liberty, said new laws on protests “have severely weakened people’s rights, caused mass confusion, and led to some spending many years in prison for non-violent demonstrations.”
He added: “If the government is serious about reviewing protest laws, it must actually engage with groups and people most impacted by the policing of protests and build policy based on their experiences.
“The only possible conclusion is that protest laws and related police powers are already too restrictive and must be rolled back to protect people’s fundamental rights, not added to further.”
