London has become a "no-go area for Jews" following pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the weekend, said Robin Simcox, the British Home Office's independent adviser on national security and terrorism this week.
According to the BBC report, Simcox urged ministers to "be bolder and be prepared to take a higher legal risk" in dealing with extremism. Last week Prime Minister Sunak warned against forces "trying to tear the country apart." Simcox wrote in the Telegraph that Sunak was right to point to an increase in extremism. He said he now needed "policies to meet the scale of the challenge."
He said the creation of a new definition of extremism, which the BBC understood would be published next week, had a "clear purpose" and would be used "to guide future decisions about what the government does or does not do". He also said the government already has "more power to deal with extremism than it sometimes thinks."
Betraying democracy?
According to him, "We have not betrayed democracy if extremists are no longer able to operate television channels and we will not be an authoritarian state if it is no longer allowed to make London a forbidden zone for Jews every weekend. All these things and more have become normal in Britain." However, John Rees, one of the participants of the demonstrations claimed that "there is no need" for Jewish people to be afraid of the demonstrations.
He said he understood why some might feel intimidated, but accused the British prime minister of intimidating the Jewish community and called him "irresponsible."
"Of course, if the government decides to instill that kind of fear, then people will feel it," he told the BBC's radio show.
Last month, Home Secretary James Cleverly urged the groups to end the protests. In an interview with The Times, he asked whether the demonstrations added "value" to their call for an end to the fighting in Gaza. The protesters claimed that anti-Muslim "hysteria" on the part of some members of parliament and pressure from the government provoked the Metropolitan Police to heavy and "discriminatory" policing.