Palestine protests live: Starmer slams march as ‘un-British’ on October 7 anniversary

Around 100 people joined a demonstration outside at the students’ union building at Sheffield University.

Those who gathered shouted chants including: “From river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, “there is only one solution – revolution, revolution” and “occupation is a crime, get your hands off Palestine”.

Those who gathered for the Revolutionary Communist Party-organised event on Tuesday also chanted criticism of the university’s policies, shouting: “Your uni is covered in Palestinian blood.”

A few protesters were carrying Palestinian flags but only a couple carried placards.

The protest was watched by a handful of university security officers but there was no obvious police presence.

Wes Streeting has warned that medical institutions are “completely failing to protect Jewish patients”.

The health secretary told The Times: “Two years on from the horrific events of October 7th and just days after a despicable attack on our nation’s Jewish community, we must be unequivocal that antisemitism has absolutely no place in our NHS, or anywhere in our society.”

He added: “It should go without saying that doctors making racist comments about Jewish people is abhorrent and demands action. Yet all too often, appropriate action by regulators has been sorely lacking.

Ahead of the prospect of pro-Palestine protests on the second anniversary of the Hamas terror atrocities in Israel on Tuesday and just days after the Manchester synagogue attack, communities minister Miatta Fahnbulleh told LBC Radio: “This is a really tough time for the Jewish community. We have seen a rise in antisemitism that is absolutely unacceptable.

“We have had, for the first time in our history, a Jewish person killed because they are Jewish. That is absolutely unacceptable and we need to stand alongside the Jewish community in solidarity.

“What I would say to people is the Jewish community are our neighbours, they’re our community, they’re our friends and we should be compassionate and thoughtful and considerate.”

Hundreds were arrested at a Palestine Action demonstration in London on Saturday, which went ahead despite calls from Sir Keir and others in the wake of the attack on British soil, leading Amnesty International to say it should not be the job of police to arrest people “peacefully sitting down”.

Thousands of students are expected to attend rallies on Tuesday on the second anniversary of the atrocity in which 1,200 people were killed.

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On Sunday, it was announced that police are to be given greater powers to restrict protests by allowing them to consider the “cumulative impact” of repeated demonstrations.

The measures follow frequent pro-Palestinian demonstrations including an event in London on Saturday which saw almost 500 arrests.

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said repeated large-scale protests had caused “considerable fear” for the Jewish community.

The Government will amend Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to explicitly allow the police to take account of the cumulative impact of frequent protests on local areas in order to impose conditions on public processions and assemblies.

The Home Secretary will also review existing legislation to ensure powers are sufficient and are being applied consistently by police forces – this will include powers to ban protests outright.

She said: “The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country. However, this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of their neighbours to live their lives without fear.

“Large, repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated and scared to leave their homes.”

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick branded plans for protests in towns and cities including London and Edinburgh on the anniversary of the attacks “a f****** disgrace”.

He told a fringe event at the Tory party conference: “I would say first and foremost to people, our fellow citizens who are thinking of doing that, show some common decency.”

If organisers refuse to call off such protests then a change in the law to consider the “cumulative impact” should be considered, he said, noting Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has already taken steps towards this.

A fundraising “bake sale” that had been planned by the Guild of Students at the University of Liverpool has since been moved to a different date.

A spokesperson for the university said: “We work in close partnership with our Guild of Students, the primary representative body for students at the University, to promote an inclusive, respectful and welcoming campus culture and environment.

“This includes working with hundreds of student societies, representing a wide range of causes, activities and areas of interest for our diverse, global community.

“Following discussions, the organisers of this proposed event have agreed to move this fundraising activity to an alternative date.”

The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports from the Tory conference:

Foreign students should be deported for joining pro-Palestine marches on the second anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel, Chris Philp has said.

“Standing by and saying nothing when encountering extremism is complicity”, the shadow home secretary told the main stage of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.

He added: “And those expressing extremism or antisemitism or racial religious hatred of any kind or support for terrorism, who are not British citizens, should be removed from this country including those at the student marches today.”

The anniversary of the attacks comes less than a week after knife-wielding terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, killed two men at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.

Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, both died in the attack which unfolded on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Greater Manchester Police has pledged to put “every available resource into making sure that we understand precisely what has happened”.

Mr Daulby is believed to have been shot dead by police while trying to stop the Manchester synagogue terrorist from entering the building.