MP for the Cities of London & Westminster, Nickie Aiken, has continuously spoken with our local Jewish leaders and community to reassure them about their safety following Hamas’ terror attacks.
The UK Government is working at pace to secure more humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza and is working with its partners in the region to prevent escalation.
For the last two weekends, central London has been the location for major Solidarity with Palestine protests. Whilst Nickie supports the right to peaceful and lawful protest, these marches have started just minutes away from synagogues and have coincided with the end of Shabbat services.
Nickie believes that our Jewish community should be able to attend their synagogues without feeling uncomfortable or fearing for their safety. So in the House of Commons, Nickie raised this point with the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and called for the timing and location of any future protests to be taken into consideration.
In the Commons, Nickie said,
"I thank the Prime Minister for his statement. My constituency has been the location for two major solidarity with Palestine protests over the past two Saturdays, and I suspect that there will be more to come. The Jewish community in Westminster has highlighted to me that these protests start just a few minutes’ walk from synagogues and that they coincide with the end of Shabbat services.
"Does the Prime Minister agree that, if further such protests go ahead, the timing and location of their starts should be considered, to take into account that members of the Jewish community are still worried about their safety and that the protests coincide with their Shabbat?"
Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak MP, replied,
"I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important issue. There is no place on British streets for demonstrations, convoys or flag-waving that not only glorify terrorism but harass the Jewish community. There is no place for antisemitism on our streets, which is why we have also increased funding for the Community Security Trust to protect British Jews from these types of incidents. The decisions that she refers to are typically operational decisions for the police and local communities, but I will very much bear in mind what she has said in our further engagements with those entities and individuals."
