London, 3rd May 2026 – The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition have both called for stronger “policing of language” and for more pro-Palestinian marches to be banned, demonstrating further attacks on freedom of expression, continuing a trend of draconian and repressive policies implemented under successive Conservative and Labour governments.
The statements come in the wake of a stabbing of two Jewish people in Golders Green, North London. The statements appear to be cynically timed, in what can only be described as a cynical weaponisation of two civilians deaths, where the Prime Minister has used these people as political pawns to increase his own Orwellian grip on free speech in this country.
Worse still, Starmer’s seeming conflation of British Jews and the actions of the Israeli government is an appalling example of antisemitism. This is only compounded by his consistent vitriolic attacks on the UK’s only Jewish party leader, Zack Polanski of the Green Party.
Criticism of the Israeli state is a widespread view amongst the British population and it just shows how out of touch the UK Government is on this matter. It is also a horrific erasure of the many anti-Zionist Jewish people who march consistently in favour of Palestinian people’s human rights.
Already, the Metropolitan Police has begun implementing a racist policing of language, whereby certain words uttered in Arabic are deemed arrestable offences, whereas their English counterparts are not. This includes the word intifada, roughly translating to resistance or uprising. For some people, it evokes the First Intifada, an event that even the BBC described as “largely peaceful”. The UK Government’s support for this and Starmer’s wish for the policing of language to go further is explicitly racist.
These latest statements also come within the context of the UK’s continued assault on freedom of expression and speech. This includes the Police, Crime and Sentencing Act 2022, the Public Order Act 2023, the proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act in 2025, and the Crime and Policing Bill.
ICJP’s Head of Public Affairs and Communications said:
“People are being arrested for saying phrases in Arabic where they could walk free if they said it in English. Anti-Zionist Jews are getting called anti-semites by non-Jewish people. The world is upside down.
At this point, Starmer is hellbent on the destruction of the pro-Palestinian movement in the UK, and is more than happy to sacrifice this country’s freedom of expression in order to do it.”
Notes to Editors:
- ICJP is a legal organisation based in London, working to uphold international law and defend the rights of Palestinians.
- For more information or for media inquiries, please contact the ICJP news desk at [email protected].
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