Are Islamists and Far-Left Extremists Undermining British Democracy?
In the context of growing antisemitism and extremism, Jews and politicians are increasingly under threat
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivered a speech outside No 10, where he warned that, since the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, small groups of extremists have been deliberately trying to undermine Britain’s “multi-faith democracy.”
Among the points raised by Sunak were fears that MPs no longer felt safe and that anti-Israel protests had “descended into intimidation, threats and planned acts of violence.”
Sunak’s speech came after House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle changed parliamentary protocol last month in a decision that caused controversy and led to calls for his resignation. When justifying his decision to allow Labour to make amendments to the SNP motion calling for a ceasefire, Hoyle said that he had changed the rules out of fear that MPs would be targeted and murdered by terrorists for abstaining or voting against the motion.
For some, this change of protocol represented a capitulation to Islamist extremists who have used intimidation, death threats, and violence to silence politicians. One example of this happened earlier this year when Conservative MP Mike Freer resigned after receiving death threats and an alleged arson attack on his office. In his resignation letter, he wrote that he and his staff had started wearing stab vests after learning that he had narrowly avoided being attacked by Ali Harbu Ali, an Islamist terrorist who went on to murder Southend West MP Sir David Amess in 2021.
One of the groups to have threatened Freer called themselves Muslims Against Crusades, a radical Islamist group that was prosecuted for burning poppies and chanting “British soldiers, burn in hell.”
Mr. Freer, who represents a constituency with a large Jewish population, believes that he was targeted because of his pro-Israel views.
In such a climate of fear and intimidation, with MPs being terrorised out of office, we mustn’t underestimate the threat from Islamist terrorists. Neither must we dismiss the surge in antisemitism that has taken hold of the UK.
A report from the Community Security Trust (CST), published in February, revealed 4,103 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2023, the highest number ever recorded. According to the report, anti-Jewish hate incidents have increased by 147 percent compared to 2022. Among the offenders, 40 percent were white European, whereas 60 percent were described as either black, Arab, South Asian, or Southeast Asian. The most frequent form of antisemitic abuse was referenced to or linked to Israel, Palestine, or Hamas.
In 2023, there were 182 incidents of damage and desecration of Jewish property, a 146 percent increase from 2022. This menacing of Jews is worse than it has ever been in Britain.
As well as condemning threats being made against MPs and Jews, the Prime Minister also expressed concern about George Galloway, the far-left firebrand who was recently elected MP for Rochdale. In the past, Galloway has glorified Hezbollah (a prescribed terrorist group) and called for Israel to be dismantled. He has also dismissed the October 7 atrocities, denying that rape and beheadings occurred, and claiming that over two-thirds of Israelis killed on the day were military personnel.
To address the growing hate and violence, Rishi Sunak has announced £72 million of security funding for Jewish schools and synagogues. This has been accompanied by £32 million in security funding to protect MPs from violence.
Additionally, Sunak revealed that foreign hate preachers will be barred from traveling to the UK. Immigrants already resident in the UK who spread hate will have their visas removed and face deportation. This mirrors the approach taken by France, which has deported a string of extremists since October 7. In February, an imam was arrested and deported back to Tunisia for calling the French flag "satanic," despite living in France for 40 years.
Other discussed anti-extremist measures include a call for MPs to cut ties with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Lord Walney, the government’s independent advisor on tackling political violence, has said that support should be withheld until it “cuts hate from its marches.”
Yet this may not be enough to reassure British Jews, many of whom are now considering leaving the country. According to the Campaign Against Antisemitism, which conducts polling and research on antisemitism, 69 percent of British Jews are hiding their identity in public. In contrast, almost half have considered leaving the UK due to antisemitism since October 7.
Additionally, polling in 2021 showed that 43 percent of British people hold at least one antisemitic view. Examples of antisemitic statements respondents agreed with were “Israel treats Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews,” and “Jewish people talk about the Holocaust just to further a political agenda.”
What does it say about Britain that antisemitism has become so widespread and intense that Jews feel they have to either hide their identity or leave the country?
With most people, especially the younger generation, receiving their news online, perhaps social media sites are to blame for showing people only one side of the story. With sites like X and TikTok, users can live in media echo chambers where they are shown more content they agree with, further entrenching their political views. Shielded from opposing perspectives, people become more and more extreme.
Is it possible to understand the long and complex history of the Arab-Israeli conflict in a 60-second TikTok video? Rather than reading books about Israel and Jewish history, people are being “educated” by their favourite influencers, who can often misinform and spread conspiracy theories.
While it might be easy to blame social media for society's problems, it is important to remember that antisemitism and Islamist extremism were around before the internet existed. More likely, the increase in extremism is being driven by a small group of anti-British Islamists and far-leftists, who are good at delivering their message and stoking up anger and resentment against both Jews and politicians who are blamed for the world’s problems.
In the context of deadly Islamist massacres from Israel to Moscow, the UK needs a more muscular response to the growing terror threat, not only to protect our people’s security but to protect our democracy itself.
Whether we can confront this surge in extremism, however, will largely depend on how frank we are allowed to be about its nature. It will also require maintaining unity around the core British values of tolerance and freedom. As the Prime Minister said in his speech, we must “face down the extremists who seek to tear us apart”.