Starmer urges students not to protest on 7 October

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.

Students from London universities are planning a joint march in the capital, while Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol and Sheffield are among other cities said to be expecting protests.

Universities UK – which represents the university sector – said while universities were places where contentious views can be expressed, students and staff taking part in protests should consider the timing of protests scheduled for 7 October.

“Time does not diminish the evil we saw that day,” Sir Keir wrote in a piece for the Times newspaper’s Tuesday edition.

Sir Keir said that while some have protested against the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, “others have used this as a despicable excuse to attack British Jews for something over which they have absolutely no responsibility”.

“Let me just spell that out for a moment: people on our streets calling for the murder of Jewish people they have never even met, for something they are not responsible for,” he said.

“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.”

Universities UK head Vivienne Stern said: “While universities must be places where contentious views can be expressed, and while universities have a legal duty to uphold free speech, we urge students and staff participating in protests to remember that 7 October is the anniversary of an atrocious attack on innocent people, and that expressing support for a terrorist organisation is a criminal offence.”

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.