London is being turned into a “no-go zone” for Jews as a result of ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, Britain’s counter-extremism tsar has warned.
Robin Simcox warned extremism was at risk of becoming “normalised” by an increasingly permissive attitude, echoing similar claims by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week.
Mr Simcox, the Government’s Commissioner for Countering Extremism, outlined his concerns in an op-ed for the Telegraph in which he voiced his concerns about “sky-rocketing” antisemitism and “inflammatory and borderline criminal rhetoric” being shared on social media.
Backing Mr Sunak’s remarks, made in front of Downing Street last Thursday, about “a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality”, Mr Simcox suggested the new definition of extremism which Mr Sunak has pledged was “urgently needed”.
He explained: “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.”
The Iranian government did not have an “inalienable right” to run schools and mosques in the UK’s capital city”, Mr Simcox stressed.
He continued: “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.”
With another large-scale demonstration scheduled for the capital on Saturday, he added: “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.”
Government should move faster, be bolder, and be prepared to accept higher legal risk in order to implement policies which kept Britons safer, Mr Simcox emphasised.
He said: “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.”
The challenges ahead were “immense”, Mr Simcox acknowledged, with politicians having failed to back up “tough words with tough actions” for decades.
He concluded: “The Government now has an opportunity to break this cycle while also championing the UK’s innate respect for those things that have been in such short supply since October 7: respect for the rule of law, civility, and decency.
“It must take it.”
