Fight against anti-semitism could be ‘faster and bolder’

THE Government could “go faster and be bolder” in tackling anti-semitism, the UK counter-extremism tsar has said.

Robin Simcox, the UK’S commissioner for countering extremism, said there had been “caution” and “timidity” from the Government in using its powers to crack down on extremists.

He said that he also believed that “things are getting worse” in terms of the prevalence of extremism in the UK over the past three years.

It comes as figures from the Community Security Trust in February revealed that reports of anti-semitic incidents in Britian reached a record high in 2023.

Asked by the BBC’S Laura Kuenssberg about the Government’s handling of anti-semitism, Mr Simcox said: “I think that the Government has done a lot, rhetorically I think the Prime Minister has been very good and they’ve made steps like giving more money to the Community Security Trust, the anti-bds Bill, some of the legislation around protests, but I do think there’s a chance to go further, to go faster and be bolder.”

He added: “Sometimes we think about the legislative question, and there is obviously a question around the glorification of terrorism, which is ongoing and whether it’s currently in the right place, but also using powers we already have.”

When asked whether the Government could be more aggressive in using existing powers, Mr Simcox said: “I think we could play closer to the edge of the line that we currently have. I think there’s some caution, there’s been some timidity. This isn’t just this Government, I would argue this has been the case for decades, and it’s part of the reason why we’re in the state we’re in.”

He suggested that the Government could “do more” in such areas as abuses of charities by extremists and ensuring that no public money goes to extremist groups.