PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer has said the government could consider banning some pro-Palestinian marches, citing the "cumulative effect" of repeated demonstrations on the Jewish community. His comments followed the stabbing of two Jewish men in London on Wednesday.
Starmer told BBC he would defend freedom of expression and peaceful protest, but said chants such as "Globalise the Intifada" were "completely off limits" and those using them should be prosecuted.
Pro-Palestinian marches have taken place regularly in London since the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, which led to the Gaza war. Critics say the protests have fuelled hostility and become a focus for antisemitism.
Protesters have said they are exercising their democratic right to raise human rights and political issues linked to Gaza.
Starmer said he accepted there were "very strong legitimate views about the Middle East, about Gaza", but said many in the Jewish community had raised concerns about the repeated nature of the marches.
Asked whether action should target chants and banners or extend to stopping protests, he said: "I think certainly the first, and I think there are instances for the latter."
"I think it's time to look across the board at protests and the cumulative effect," he said, adding that the government needed to consider what further powers it could take.
Britain raised its terrorism threat level to "severe" on Thursday, citing security concerns that foreign states were helping to fuel violence, including against the Jewish community.
"We are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK," said Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terrorism policing, in a statement. He added that police were also working "against an unpredictable global situation that has consequences closer to home, including physical threats by state-linked actors."
