U.K. prime minister Rishi Sunak announced a “robust new framework” to police pro-Palestinian protests and the intention to revoke visas for people who “spew hate.”
In an eleven-minute speech delivered on Friday, Sunak argued that protests have “descended into intimidation, threats, and planned acts of violence.” He condemned the “shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality” that has occurred since October 7.
Sunak claimed that “our democracy itself is a target” and denounced “Islamist extremists” and “the far-right” as “two sides of the same extremist coin,” pointing out that council meetings have been stormed, Members of Parliament have felt threatened in their homes, and parliamentary conventions have been disrupted.
“There is no context in which it can be acceptable to beam antisemitic tropes onto Big Ben in the middle of a vote on Israel-Gaza,” Sunak said. “And there can be no cause that you can use to justify the support of a proscribed terrorist group like Hamas.”
In February, activists projected the words “from the river to the sea,” “stop bombing Gaza,” and “ceasefire now” onto the historic clock tower as Members of Parliament gathered to vote on motions calling for a ceasefire.
“The Home Secretary has instructed that if those here on visas choose to spew hate, protest, or seek to intimidate people, we will remove their right to be here,” Sunak said.
The prime minister added that the government would prevent people “whose aim is to undermine its values” from entering the country, “demand” that universities “stop extremist activity on campus,” and increase its support for the “prevent program,” a government-led initiative which aims to “aims to stop individuals becoming terrorists.”
The cost for the police to manage Israel-Gaza protests in the United Kingdom since October 7 is roughly £25.4 million pounds, or roughly $31,600,000 U.S. dollars, National Review previously reported.
“We currently estimate the total Op Brocks cost to the Met to be £18.9 million from 7 October to 17 December 23. This is made up of £9.5 million of opportunity costs and £9.4 million in additional cost,” said the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Matt Twist. (“Operation Brocks” is the name of the Metropolitan Police’s response to managing the impacts of the Israel-Gaza conflict in London.)
Excluding the costs incurred by the Metropolitan Police in London, the real costs of the police force managing protests throughout the U.K. amount to £6.5 million in the nine-week period following October 7, bringing the total cost up to £25.4 million.
The Metropolitan Police stated on January 4 that over 400 individuals had been arrested “in relation to offences linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict including hate crimes and public order offences.”
As of December 12, there were more than 800 open cases in the Metropolitan Police of reported hate crimes, which will require estimated 6,000 hours of officers’ time for investigating.