‘London is now a no-go zone for Jews’
Counter-extremism tsar warns of risks from pro-palestinian protests
PRO-PALESTINIAN protests are turning London into a “no-go zone for Jews”, the UK’S counter-extremism tsar has said, as he warned that extremist groups have gone “unchallenged for too long”.
Writing in The Telegraph, Robin Simcox, the Home Office’s independent adviser on extremism, said the Government and its agencies had powers to combat extremism but had failed to tackle groups that “lurked” just below the threshold of being terrorists.
His warning comes amid a government crackdown on the issue, with Rishi Sunak last week urging protesters not to “let the extremists hijack your marches” as ministers plan to announce a broader definition of extremism.
Mr Simcox said that the “permissive environment for radicalisation” developing in the UK meant activities such as pro-palestinian protests that leave parts of the capital off-limits to Jews had become “normalised”.
He said the same applied to Iran’s sponsorship of British schools and mosques, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas’s support for British charities , and extremist TV channels operating on UK soil. “We have not betrayed democracy if extremists are no longer able to operate television channels,” Mr Simcox said. “And we will not have become an authoritarian state if London is no longer permitted to be turned into a no-go zone for Jews every weekend.
“All these things and more have become normalised in the UK. ”
It is understood that Mr Simcox believes police should consider placing tougher restrictions on demonstrations, and that such a move would not signify some “authoritarian” desire to crush the protests but a recognition that the heart of London could not indefinitely host very large and intimidating protests.
One option Mr Simcox is understood to have canvassed would be whether the protests could be held in a different part of the city or could be restricted to being a static protest, as has been required of demonstrations by the Right-wing English Defence League.
Mr Sunak has urged police to take a tougher stance on protesters, telling officers “we will back you when you take action”. Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Commissioner, subsequently defended his force’s handling of protests, saying that “we have to police the law as it is not as others would wish it to be”.
However, Mr Simcox said that extremist groups could be shut down or curbed by ministers and regulatory agencies such as the Charities Commission, Ofcom or Department for Education, but had not been. “Government has more power to tackle extremism than it sometimes thinks,” he said.
He said the Government needed to be bolder and move faster in tackling extremist groups, even if they were highly litigious in challenging any attempt to crack down on them.
“That means the Government… be willing to accept higher legal risk if it means implementing policies that keep us safer,” he said.
It is understood he believes universities could take a tougher approach by banning extremist speakers or shutting down events and that the Government could do more to refuse visas to hate preachers on speaking tours of the UK.
His comments come ahead of Michael Gove’s announcement next week of a new broader definition of extremism to enable government, universities, councils and other bodies to ban funding for or engagement with Islamist and Rightwing groups. The Government is not expected to publish a list of the extremist groups that could be caught by the new definition which encompasses any group or individual that promotes an ideology that “undermines the rights or freedoms of others”.
However, it is understood that ministers are likely to use parliamentary privilege to name the groups in the House of Commons.
THE Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct 7 will come to redefine our era. Not since 9/11 have extremist networks been as emboldened.
Anti-semitism skyrocketing. Inflammatory and borderline criminal rhetoric widely shared on social media. A sense that the terrorism threat is rising. Protests becoming ever more vociferous, with “from the river to the sea” beamed onto the side of Big Ben during a vote on Gaza. MPS more fearful for their safety than ever.
The Prime Minister last week pointed to “a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality”. He was right. Now he needs policies that meet the scale of the challenge.
One thing the government is doing is crafting a new definition of extremism. If the maxim that you cannot defeat what you cannot define is true, then recent history suggests we are in trouble. The government’s 2011 definition is not used much across Whitehall, but attempts to improve it or put a definition of extremism on the statute books have come to naught.
While debates over a definition can feel like academic navel-gazing when actual extremist acts are so common, the work does have a clear purpose: it will be used to guide future decisions over who government does and does not engage with and fund.
The government is right to act. Evidence that the state works with or funds extremists has appeared in independent reviews or government strategies dating back over a decade. This needs fixing, new definition of extremism or not.
The focus on an engagement and funding framework is encouraging because it is an example of government looking to make better use of the powers it has: the power of the purse and the ability to bestow legitimacy via engagement.
Future governments may wish to revisit legislative gaps to capture expressions of support for terrorism but, even still, government has more power to tackle extremism than it sometimes thinks. After all, the Iranian government does not have an inalienable right to run schools and mosques in our capital city. It is not an unalterable democratic principle that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood must be allowed to run a multitude of charities. We have not betrayed democracy if extremists are no longer able to operate television channels. And we will not have become an authoritarian state if London is no longer permitted to be turned into a no-go zone for Jews every weekend.
All these things and more have become normalised in the UK. It is why I have warned of a permissive environment for radicalisation developing that needs urgently addressing.
Government should move faster, be bolder, and be willing to accept higher legal risk if it means implementing policies that keep us safer. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to disrupting the activities of those groups who propagate extremist narratives but who lurk just below the terrorism threshold.
These groups have gone unchallenged for too long and have used their time well. They are now embedded and influential among communities. It cannot only be government that stands up to these extremists - be it Islamist, extreme Right-wing, extreme Left-wing, or other ideological manifestations - but it has the most resources and must take a leading role.