Antisemitic Attacks

Baroness Altmann Excerpts

Monday 27th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

It is important to remember that. I may be a simple soul, but I want to have a society where people respect each other, are tolerant of each other’s lifestyles, share the same spaces, understand where people are coming from and their different religious perspectives, different colours and everything else, and live tolerant, productive lives in which we help to grow our economy, spend money from our resources and make sure that we have a cohesive, socially inclusive society. That is an objective.

The Government have a social cohesion plan, backed by £800 million, targeting 40 community areas. They want to do more to meet the very objectives that my noble friend mentioned. People from the Islamic faith should be able to celebrate their faith and to worship. People who are Black should be able to walk down the street free from attacks, as should members of our Jewish society. This Statement follows what happened in north London on a particular day last month, but the points made by my noble friend are valid for every section of society.

[Baroness Altmann (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I too am grateful for the funding provided by the Government. I declare my interest as a British Jew.

The Minister says there is no place in British life for antisemitism, but there clearly is. Jews are under attack. Antisemitism has been embedded in British discourse and in some areas of politics, emboldened by propaganda that has twisted perceptions. My family described exactly this happening in Germany in the 1930s as people vilified Jews who lived there, and had previously been their friends, on the basis of false perception. British students and young people now feel pressured to shun Jewish friends or colleagues. If they try to support Jews or do not denounce Israel, they are accused of supporting genocide or being baby killers. What violence or threats are British Jews guilty of? What unrest or anti-social behaviour have British Jews engaged in?

Will the Minister now recognise that the hate marches have led to such dangerous consequences? Will he ban them from now on? Will he also look into the reports of Jewish actors, singers or entertainers being banned from certain venues just because they are Jewish?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

On the first point that the noble Baroness mentioned, the question of hate marches, as I said in my earlier contribution, the Government have passed the Crime and Policing Bill, which is now heading for Royal Assent. It includes additional powers for the police to both ban and reroute marches. It is for the police to take those actions, not politicians. Where those actions lead to persistent hate marches, the police now have additional powers under what will be the Crime and Policing Act to take action on that.

As I said in response to the question from the noble Lord, Lord Grade, I will look at the issue of banning people from activities because of their religion. As the time for this Statement has now finished, I leave the House by saying that the Government strongly condemn antisemitism and will take whatever action they can to root it out and to support the Jewish community. I hope that we can work towards a cohesive society where people’s religion, colour or background does not cause violence against them or intimidation directed towards their behaviour or the way in which they choose to live their life. Everybody is individual and should be allowed to live their life to their full potential.