Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that Britain is starting to have a “mob rule” because of the protests against the Israel-Hamas war. According to a human rights group, his remarks were too theatrical and hyperbolic.
Sunak spoke to a group of police officers and said that he has noticed a growing trend of violent and threatening behavior. This behavior is meant to silence discussions and prevent elected officials from doing their job.
“More and more people agree that mob rule is taking over instead of democratic rule,” he said, according to a transcript from the prime minister’s office. “We all need to quickly make a change together. ”
Tom Southerden from Amnesty International said on Thursday that when people talk about mob rule, they are making the problem seem much bigger than it actually is. This could make peaceful protests seem less legitimate.
Many people are protesting in London every week to stop a fight that has killed over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Israel says that Hamas has killed about 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and kidnapped around 250 people in October. 7 people tried to hurt someone or something.
The protests have mostly been calm, but many people have been arrested for holding signs and chanting in support of Hamas, which is not allowed in Britain. Jewish groups and many politicians say the large marches have made Jewish people in London feel scared, even though some Jewish people have also joined marches for peace.
Disagreements about the fighting in Gaza are causing problems in British politics. Some politicians are worried about their safety because they have been threatened for their views on the war. Reports of more hate towards Jewish and Muslim people in Britain have gone up a lot since October when Hamas did something. Israel was attacked, so they went into Gaza.
Last week, a discussion in the House of Commons about whether to ask for a stop to fighting turned into a mess. There were claims that the speaker of the house broke the rules because of pressure from people who support Palestine.
During the argument, people showed a message on the Parliament building that some think means they want to destroy Israel.
On Saturday, Sunak stopped Conservative official Lee Anderson from being in the party because he said London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim, was influenced by Islamists and let them take control of the city.
Protesters who support Palestine were at a Conservative lawmaker’s house. Environmental activists also went to Sunak’s family home in northern England.
The prime minister met with police chiefs to discuss the 31-million-pound fund to make sure lawmakers are safe. This is because some politicians have been threatened and intimidated because of the war.
At the meeting on Wednesday, the government told police chiefs that protesting outside of politicians’ homes should be seen as intimidating.
Sunak instructed the officers to take strong action to protect our democratic processes from being threatened, disrupted, or undermined.
British officials usually meet with people in their local areas, but security has been increased because of past attacks. In 2016, a Labour politician named Jo Cox was killed by a far-right extremist. In 2021, a Conservative named David Amess was murdered by someone who was influenced by the Islamic State group.
Sunak said these things after the government started making it harder for people to peacefully protest for several years. New laws have been made to stop behaviors that are considered bothersome to the public. People who are found guilty of this may be put in jail for up to 10 years. The police now have more authority to control protests that they believe are causing trouble. Many environmental activists have been taken by the police and put in jail for stopping traffic and doing other peaceful actions.
“Being able to speak and gather with others are very important rights in a fair and free society,” explained Southerden, who is the director of law and human rights at Amnesty U. K
The United Kingdom “These past few years, the government has been cracking down on people’s right to protest. They’re making it illegal to use peaceful protest tactics and giving the police a lot of power to stop protests from happening,” he said.
People in Rochdale, a town in northwest England, voted on Thursday to choose a new lawmaker. The election campaign was messy because of the war in Gaza. The Labour Party rejected its candidate, Azhar Ali, because he said that Israel let Hamas enter Gaza. 7 attacks were planned as an excuse to invade Gaza.
His name is still listed as an option to vote for, along with other people running for office. These include George Galloway, a former member of the Labour party who is against their position on the Israel-Hamas conflict, and Simon Danczuk, another former Labour politician who now supports the right-wing Reform U. K
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UK sliding towards mob rule – Sunak
