Antisemitic Attacks

Tulip Siddiq Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for a series of entirely sensible and constructive points. He is absolutely right to raise both the abhorrent nature of the threat and the spectre of what happened in Manchester. Those of us with the privilege of serving in government to ensure our national security and keep our public safe have spent a lot of time looking very closely at what happened in Manchester. I give the hon. Gentleman and the House an absolute assurance that we work around the clock to try to ensure that these terrible attacks cannot happen and that we ensure that our intelligence services and police have the resources they need to do the important job that we ask of them.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for mentioning the Community Security Trust—I suspect that every Member of the House knows about it—which does incredibly important work and is held in the very highest regard. I am proud of the resources that this Government have put into that work. He is also right to make the point that we need to tackle this threat via the root causes; walls and cameras and defences are an important part of our response, but they are not the only part. That is why I spoke a moment ago about the need to tackle extremism.

The hon. Gentleman asked specifically about international engagement, and he is right to do so. I can give him an assurance that we work very closely with our international partners—particularly in Europe, but also in the middle east and further afield—and that there is a lot of activity alongside our partners to identify the particular nature of the threat we are facing collectively. I assure him that whatever tools and whatever legislative arrangement is required, we will bring it forward.

[Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Highgate) (Lab)]

The Minister will be aware that I have a thriving Jewish community in my constituency—a community that I grew up in and which I feel very protective of. I want to share with the Minister an email from my constituent Richard, who said that

“many in the community are fearful”.

He said that some are not attending synagogue and communal events, and that Sunday schools for children are taking place behind thick security cordons. Richard’s niece attends a Jewish primary school, which had two police officers at the gate this morning. He went on to say:

“Instead of action, we are receiving platitudes from those in power. Why hasn’t your government proscribed the IRGC, who are directly involved in terror against Britain’s Jewish community and against British interests.”

I ask the Minister, who recently visited my constituency and had a conversation with community leaders, what shall I reply to my constituent Richard—why have the Government not proscribed the IRGC?

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has raised her concerns diligently with me on a number of occasions. I had the privilege recently of visiting JW3, in her constituency, which is a truly inspiring place. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Raymond, the chief executive officer, and to all the staff and volunteers for the incredibly important work that they do. I know it is hugely appreciated in my hon. Friend’s community.

The threat that my hon. Friend describes is totally unacceptable, and I can give her an absolute assurance to take back to her constituents of how seriously we take that threat. I also assure her that we will bring forward and use all the tools at our disposal. There has been a lot of commentary about proscribing the IRGC, and I completely understand why. She will understand that the Government have made a commitment to bring forward a legislative tool that was recommended by Jonathan Hall. It was this Government’s view that we did not have the appropriate legislative mechanism to proscribe a state-backed entity, which is why we have made a commitment to bring forward that particular tool. However, she should be assured that we will not wait for that particular legislative tool to do everything necessary to combat and counter the work of the IRGC. I set out the work we are doing to counter the threat from Iran a moment ago, and I hope that provides some assurance to her and to her constituents.