October 7 changed face of UK politics

As anti-Israel protests raged, the police appeared to be trying to appease – and even excuse – the extremism. In a video of rally held by the (now-proscribed) Islamist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a speaker asked, “What is the solution to liberate people from the concentration camp called Palestine?” “Jihad, jihad, jihad,” the crowd chanted back.

The official Metropolitan Police X/ Twitter account claimed: “The word jihad has a number of meanings” and that their “specialist” officers had not “identified any offences arising from the specific clip”.

Arguably, it was scenes – and responses – such as these that prompted the then-Conservative government to kick-start the process to proscribe Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

The question of “two-tier policing”, which has dominated much of British politics this summer, reared its head after then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman questioned the Metropolitan Police’s approach to pro-Palestine protests and said in an article in the Times that they were being treated leniently compared to far-right protests, for which she was then sacked.

Before her dismissal, she came under fire for describing the pro-Palestine protests as “hate marches”.

However, with some examples of chants in favour of the Houthi terror group, protesters wearing badges celebrating Hamas paragliders and police posing for photos with children dressed up with keffiyehs covering their faces in the style of Hamas’s spokesperson Abu Obiedah, it is easy to see why many agreed with Braverman’s points.

Established political parties were quick to express their support for Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 atrocities. Rishi Sunak lit up Downing Street in the colours of Israel’s flag and Sir Keir Starmer told a Labour Friends of Israel event: “In this dark hour, Labour stands with Israel.”

However, on Monday October 16 – the first parliamentary opportunity MPs had to talk about it – both Labour and Conservative MPs were talking about Israel’s “collective punishment” of Palestinians.

Starmer’s remarks in a radio interview that Israel had the right to cut off water and electricity and water to Gaza (as long as it was “within international law”) were seized on by his critics.

With polls showing a likely Labour landslide at a general election, and an expectation that the polls were unlikely to significantly narrow, opponents of the Labour leadership’s stance used the issue of Gaza to muster support against the party in a way no foreign policy has done since the Iraq War.

In the local elections held in May, the independent candidate for the Mayor of West Midlands, Akhmed Yakoob, placed opposition to the war in Gaza at the centre of his campaign. The Palestinian flag was all over his leaflets, posters and social media videos.

Jonathan Ashworth, a Labour frontbencher who lost his Leicester South seat to a pro-Gaza independent, described having to take shelter in a vicarage in the face of intimidation. In government, both rivals and Labour’s own backbenchers have been putting pressure on Labour to take a more critical approach to Israel.

Starmer’s decision to announce a limited suspension of arms sales to Israel just as hostages executed by Hamas were being buried, angered many including Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis who said it “serve to encourage our shared enemies.”

Although the Prime Minister has certainly transformed his party from the days of Jeremy Corbyn, many have been left concerned.