this afternoon, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has given a statement at Downing Street on antisemitism, following his visit to Golders Green in the wake of the stabbing attack yesterday.
Almost exactly two years ago, the embattled Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, gave a speech after months of rampant extremism and government inaction. He said the right things, but his government did very little and nothing changed.
Two years on, the situation is even worse.
Now, after we have led the outrage following the Golders Green stabbing attack and only after we announced that we will be rallying outside Downing Street tonight to call on Sir Keir Starmer to present a plan to tackle the worst antisemitic violence in living memory, he has finally spoken.
And so, two years on from Mr Sunak’s address, another embattled Prime Minister has given a powerful speech, saying many of the right things: the Palestine marches are hateful, extremist charities must be shut down, Islamist preachers must be barred from Britain, the IRGC must be proscribed.
The full power of the state must be brought to bear, he says.
We agree. That is why we have been calling for these sorts of measures for two and a half years. Had they been implemented sooner, lives could have been spared, and many Jews who have come to believe that they no longer have a place in Britain might have thought otherwise.
But words are no longer enough – even if they are the right ones. Everything that the Prime Minister has said this afternoon could have been enacted over the past two years of this premiership.
We are fed up of words: we need action.
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister still gave no sense of a timeline of when that action will be forthcoming.
This is a national emergency, and we will be rallying outside Downing Street tonight at 19:00. We hope that you will join us.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This is the second time since October 2023 that an embattled Prime Minister has belatedly given a strong speech on antisemitism that finally says what we’ve been saying all along but comes with no timeline for action. Words are no longer enough. Everything that the Prime Minister has said this afternoon could have been enacted over the past two years of this premiership, and he has only said them now because more Jews have been injured and we announced a rally outside Downing Street calling for a plan.
”We are fed up of words: we need action – and the Prime Minister still gave no sense of timeline of when that action will be forthcoming. This is a national emergency. Where is the urgency?”
