Chanting jihad on the streets of London is “completely reprehensible”, immigration minister Robert Jenrick has told Sky News – as he confirmed terror arrests have been made in the UK since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips today, Mr Jenrick said “we want to make sure that the police do everything that they can to protect British Jews”.
The Metropolitan Police has faced criticism after finding no offence was committed when a man was filmed chanting “jihad, jihad” at a protest in London.
Politics latest: Terror arrests made in UK since start of Israel-Hamas war
“The word has a number of meanings but we know the public will most commonly associate it with terrorism,” the force said.
“Specialist officers have assessed the video and have not identified any offences arising from the specific clip. We have also sought advice from specialist Crown Prosecution Service lawyers who have reached the same conclusion.
“However, recognising the way language like this will be interpreted by the public and the divisive impact it will have, officers identified the man involved and spoke to him to discourage any repeat of similar chanting.”
An estimated 100,000 people marched in London to show solidarity to Palestine on Saturday
Mr Jenrick said: “Chanting jihad on the streets of London is completely reprehensible and I never want to see scenes like that. It is inciting terrorist violence and it needs to be tackled with the full force of the law.
“Ultimately, it’s an operational matter for the police and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) whether to press charges.”
He added: “There have been arrests under terrorist legislation. And we want to do everything that we can to protect British Jews.
“But this is a broader question beyond just legality, it also is a question about values. And there should be a consensus in this country that chanting things like jihad is completely reprehensible and wrong and we don’t ever want to see that in our country.”
Mr Jenrick said the priority was getting British nationals out of Gaza, when asked about the possibility of establishing a scheme for taking Palestinians refugees.
Pressed over whether there might be a specific scheme for Palestinians, Mr Jenrick said: “At the moment, priority is simply to get the British nationals out of Gaza and to ensure there is as much humanitarian relief there. That that’s the first step.
“It’s quite a long way ahead before we could reach the point where we might be able to see more people leaving Gaza. At the moment Egypt, for example, is not willing to admit refugees, and we understand the reasons behind that.”