The House | The right to protest is precious, but there is no right to shout racist slogans

Area of Golders Green cordoned off after stabbing attack 29 April 2026 (ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy)

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Most people simply don’t know any Jews and perhaps know even less about Jewish British history; about the infamous English blood libel originating in Norwich in 1144; about the slaughter of 57 Jews in Bury St Edmunds in 1190, which is commemorated by a teardrop memorial in Bury’s Abbey Gardens; and about the expulsion, by King Edward I in 1290, of the Jews of England, who did not return until 1656, the time of Cromwell – 366 years later. 

Yet there have been Jews in England for almost 1,000 years, and hatred of them is nothing new. Now we are witnessing in our time another terrible surge in anti-Jewish racism. A man is accused of attempting to murder two Jewish citizens in north London last month. We have seen attacks on ambulances and synagogues, and last Yom Kippur two Jews were killed in an attack in Manchester.

This latest surge in anti-Jewish hatred on our streets follows the war in the Middle East, yet the actions of the elected government of the State of Israel are no more the responsibility of England’s Jews than the actions of the Vatican are the responsibility of British Catholics, or the actions of the Chinese government the responsibility of the British Chinese community. 

The murder suspect in Golders Green did not stop to inquire whether the men in black coats and hats were supporters of the policies of the Israeli government. Their kippah alone seemed enough to make them a target.

Hatred on our streets, seemingly unfettered, has been weaponised by those, including foreign powers, who stir division. All right-minded people in our country have been appalled by the scenes of destruction in Gaza and now in Lebanon, and they have a right to protest, peacefully, in opposition to those acts of violence. The right to protest and our freedom of speech are precious principles in this country. 

But there is no right, and nor should there be, to intimidate or to chant racist slogans designed to incite hatred. The expression “globalise the intifada” is not confusing. We have seen where it leads. It leads to Manchester, to Bondi Beach and to Golders Green.

The expression ‘globalise the intifada’ is not confusing. We have seen where it leads

If there were a sustained campaign of terror against another distinctive group in our country, Sikhs or Buddhists, would there not be outrage and street protests? Would it not be viewed as a national emergency? 

Where are the anti-racists who march for peace and goodwill? Where is the solidarity with this small British community currently under attack? What will each of us do now, because what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews? 

Now, more than ever, it is time for us to come together to say clearly and loudly that we British are a tolerant and compassionate people, and that anti-Jewish racism will not prevail.

In 1190, those few Jews who had escaped slaughter in Bury St Edmunds were expelled by Abbot Samson, earning the town the dubious honour of being the first in England to expel its Jews. 

Almost 1,000 years later, I am the first Labour MP for Bury St Edmunds but also its first Jewish MP. History has come full circle. But so too has the oldest form of hate. Learning the lessons of history must come full circle too. 

Peter Prinsley is the Labour MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket