Charedi protesters denounce new Schools Bill as ‘persecution’

An estimated 1,500 plus boys from the age of 13 learn in unregistered yeshivot in Stamford Hill, which are not legally classified as schools and therefore not subject to inspections by Ofsted.

Ahead of the demonstration, Stamford Hill yeshivah head, 103-year-old Rabbi Elyakim Schlesinger said in a letter that the Bill was “a terrible decree of destruction”, adding: “Its consequences will be the closure of all Torah institutions and yeshivas”.

The protest, organised by the Rabbinical Committee of the Traditional Charedi Chinuch (RCTCC), said the Bill was “a threat to the integrity of religious education and to the longstanding freedom of religious communities in England”.

A spokesperson for RCTCC defiantly said: "We cannot and will not give way to those who aim to reshape our identity, these ongoing efforts only instil fear and apprehension within our community, hinting at a threatening slide towards cultural eradication", they added: "The bill demonstrates the lack of respect and tolerance to all".

One demonstrator, Rabbi Weiss, who spoke to the JC, accused the government of “trying to take away our belief, the Jewish religious belief, which we've had all these thousands of years, and to completely change us to irreligious”.

Asked if he had any message for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, he said: “There have been many people, many nations, over the years who have attacked the Jewish people and the Jewish beliefs. And none of them survived.

He continued: “We've survived because we have God behind us … they will end up like Hitler and Stalin and all these people who try to destroy the Jewish people.”

Rabbi Weiss is not to be confused with Rabbi David Weis, head of the British Rabbinical Council, who was present at the protest and addressed the gathering.

On Tuesday, the JC reported that a demonstration of solidarity with the British Charedi community was held in New York city, with some of the protesters wearing fake prison uniforms and declaring that they would rather go to jail than compromise over their traditional education,

A spokesperson for the Department for Education rejected the Charedi criticism of the Bill and said it “does not prevent parents securing a faith-based education for their children, if that is their wish.”

They added: “It merely requires people responsible for educational settings which provide full-time education to children to register with the Secretary of State and be inspected against agreed standards.

The spokesperson went onto say: “This is already required of those responsible for independent schools and the change will ensure more children receive a safe and suitable education which is subject to regular inspection and greater oversight.”

The wide-ranging Bill was the source of controversy at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier on Wednesday.

The Conservative Party submitted an amendment to it urging the government to “develop new legislative proposals for children’s wellbeing including establishing a national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs.”

Sir Keir Starmer urged Conservative MPs to defy their leader Kemi Badenoch and back the measures in the Bill: “What can’t be tolerated is the idea that this afternoon, members opposite will vote down a Bill which protects children”, he told MPs, adding: “just one of the provisions in the Bill is to protect children vulnerable today who are out of school, to prevent abusers ever taking those children out of school”.

The amendment was defeated with 111 MPs voting in favour of it and 364 voting against.

The Bill will now move to Committee stage at an, as yet, unannounced date in the future.