Antisemitic Attacks

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

I hope that across the House there is a shared endeavour and an absolute determination to ensure that this does not become the new normal that we have to endure. None of us wants that to be the case. My hon. Friend is right to raise the importance of tackling the root causes, and hopefully he will have heard my earlier answers, but he is also right to make the point that this work needs to be properly co-ordinated across Government. Although there is an important role for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in leading this work, it needs a response from the whole system and the whole of Government. I assure him that through the Home Office and the Cabinet Office, and with other supporting Departments, we make sure that that is the case.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I commend the police and the fire brigade for their prompt action in the early hours of Sunday morning. It was a reassurance patrol that spotted the firebombing of Kenton shul and prevented it from burning down completely, so that is welcome. Equally welcome is the extension of the section 60 notice, not just to Barnet but to Harrow and Brent—I think that has been announced while the Minister has been on his feet. We have to recognise that this is a series of terrorist attacks on the Jewish community. I have people contacting me saying, “Am I safe in my own home, let alone going to the synagogue?” That is a disgrace for this country and we have to take action immediately.

Will he look not only at proscription of the IRGC but the immediate proscription of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, so that membership of that organisation is a criminal offence? Equally, will he make sure that the charities behind these people—the Dar Alhekma Trust and the Abrar Islamic Foundation, which I wrote to the Minister about a year ago—are also proscribed, as well as the 16 other Islamic charities that have been proscribed by the Arab states?

The reality is that we have to take prompt and firm action to stop this terrorist activity now. What starts with the hate marches ends up with synagogues being burned and Jewish people feeling unsafe.

[Dan Jarvis]

I agree with pretty much all of what the hon. Member said, and I join him in commending the important work of the police and the fire service. On proscription, he knows that it is the long-standing policy of successive Governments that we do not talk about it, because that would be helpful to our adversaries, but we do look very carefully at the extent to which we can deploy proscription in a meaningful, targeted and effective way. The hon. Member should also understand—I know that he does—that it is but one tool in our armoury. There are many other things that we can do, and there are many other things that we are doing and will do.