s that Lee Anderson was justified in saying that the mayor of London was “controlled” by Islamists, a claim made doubly absurd by Sadiq Khan’s amoral opportunism and stylistic resemblance to David Brent. It is quite right that Anderson was suspended. Neither does it mean that peaceful protest should be suppressed.
But it is absurd to claim, as some still do, that the biggest threat at present is the far right. What ought to excite more scrutiny and agitation is the steady deterioration of British state authority under threat of violent intimidation. Clearly, the government needs to examine the guidance and norms determining how the authorities respond to extremism and intimidation. The police and political leaders need to rediscover their appetite for confrontation with unacceptable elements of the pro-Palestinian movement, even where it involves risk and the use of force. Our education system needs the resources and political backing to tackle Holocaust denial and classroom extremism.
But what should worry us most is the possibility that our civil society has already frayed too far to be repaired, and that this is only going to get worse and worse. We cannot ultimately police our way out of a breakdown in civic norms brought about in large part by reckless immigration policy. If MPs are no longer safe because of how they vote in our parliament, that tells us something more profound than that our police are weak. It tells us that our society is weak. And that is a problem that none of our leaders has yet been willing to talk about.
Ministers must do more to prevent the Israel-Gaza protests from “draining” official resources as policing protests cost Scotland Yard almost £25 million, a report has found.
The figure covers the policing of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests from the date the conflict ignited on October 7 to December 17 last year.
A cross-party group of MPs who make up the home affairs committee said it was “deeply dispiriting” to see the fight against hate crime get “stuck in Home Office limbo”.
Weekly demonstrations, which have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to central London, have strained the Met Police’s capabilities and impacted officers’ wellbeing, with more than 4,000 forced to abandon rest days over three months to ensure demonstrations passed off safely….
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said the report “fails to address the increasingly urgent need to restore the confidence of the British public and ensure the safety of this country’s Jewish community”.
A spokesperson added: “After months of intimidatory marches, this report offers no concrete recommendations for the here and now, just a long-term policy discussion about workforce planning and new laws that will take years to agree. Millions of pounds are being diverted from fighting crime into policing these relentless marches. The Jewish community is in fear and our city centres remain no-go zones during the protests. We need action urgently.”
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