Keir Starmer calls student protests on 7 October anniversary ‘un-British’

Keir Starmer has urged students not to protest on the second anniversary of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on Israel, describing plans for demonstrations as “un-British”.

Every child of Israel should be able to live alongside their Palestinian neighbours in “safety and security”, the prime minister said as he marked the anniversary.

Writing in the Times, Starmer said protests due to take place at universities on Tuesday showed a lack of respect for others. He added that the pro-Palestine protests had been used by some as a “despicable excuse to attack British Jews”.

The prime minister wrote in the newspaper: “Today, 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.”

Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during an assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023. Israel’s subsequent offensive has so far killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and wounded about 170,000, according to the Gaza health ministry. At least 460 people have died from starvation under Israel’s aid restrictions in the territory.

The second anniversary of the attacks comes less than a week after Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, launched a terror attack outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, in which two people died.

Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were both killed in the attack, which unfolded on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Starmer said: “Time does not diminish the evil we saw that day. The worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The brutal, cold-blooded torture and murder of Jews in their own homes. And the taking of hostages, including British citizens, some of whom remain in Gaza today.”

Starmer’s message was repeated on Tuesday by the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, who told Sky News: “There is, of course, within our country the fundamental right to protest. It’s a cornerstone of our democracy.

“But my message is that, as we remember the awful atrocities that took place two years ago on October 7, I would just encourage those considering taking part in protests to pause, to reflect and to understand the deep sense of loss that many people in our country will be experiencing today, not least given the appalling attacks we saw at Manchester last week.

Thousands of people attended an event in Trafalgar Square in central London on Sunday to mark the two-year anniversary. Pro-Palestine protests also took place in the same location on Saturday, with almost 500 people arrested.

The shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, called plans for protests in towns and cities including London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol on the anniversary of the attacks “a fucking disgrace”.

He told a fringe event at the Conservative party conference: “I heard today that there are protests being scheduled in universities for October 7 – that’s a fucking disgrace.”

The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said repeated large-scale demonstrations have caused “considerable fear” among the Jewish community, as she pledged to give police greater powers to restrict protests.

The government will amend sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to explicitly allow the police to take account of the cumulative impact of frequent protests on local areas in order to impose conditions on public processions and assemblies.

The home secretary is also to review existing legislation to ensure powers are sufficient and are being applied consistently by police forces. This will include powers to ban protests outright.