Kemi Badenoch today condemned the ‘tolerance’ of radical Islamism in the aftermath of the Manchester synagogue attack.
Opening Tory conference, the leader argued that protests amounting to ‘carnivals of hatred’ against Israel were being allowed on British streets.
She insisted slogans such as ‘globalise the Intifada’ were effectively ‘targeting Jewish people for violence’.
The intervention came as ministers vowed to close the ‘gap in the law’ after a fresh wave of pro-Palestine demonstrations.
Shabana Mahmood unveiled new laws handing police more powers to clamp down on repeat protests after 492 marchers were arrested this weekend.
Law enforcement across the nation are now permitted to evaluate the ‘accumulative effect’ of protests, including the recurring pro-Palestinian demonstrations on Saturdays, which Ms Mahmood has previously described as ‘un-British’.
Opening Tory conference, Kemi Badenoch argued that protests amounting to ‘carnivals of hatred’ against Israel were being allowed on British streets
But Mrs Badenoch said the need for action was ‘urgent’.
‘Extremism has been left unchecked. It’s evident in the disgraceful actions on the streets of our urban centers, with protests that essentially act as festivals of hostility aimed at the Jewish state,’ she remarked.
‘This is apparent in the baseless slogans. You hear phrases like ‘from the river to the sea’, insinuating that the homes and lives of countless Jewish individuals should be wiped out. Phrases like ‘globalize the Intifada’ mean little unless they intend the incitement of violence against Jewish people.
‘We have been complacent in our nation for too long, allowing the radical Islamist ideology that threatens not just Jews, but anyone of any or no faith who wants to coexist peacefully.
‘Thus, the message from this conference, this party, and from every moral and sensible citizen in this country must be that we will no longer tolerate it.’
Ms Badenoch went on: ‘We cannot import and tolerate values hostile to our own.
‘It is time to declare that while in Britain you are free to think and, within legal limits, express your beliefs, you do not have the right to convert our streets into arenas of coercion, and we will prohibit you from doing so going forward.
‘To our Jewish friends, we stand with you shoulder to shoulder. You are part of the fabric of Britain and you always will be.’
Ms Badenoch also hit out at opponents in Labour and Reform, saying they were ‘two sides of the same coin’ that both practised ‘identity politics’ and ‘division’.
She said: ‘I am black, I am a woman, I am a Conservative, and I know that identity politics is a trap. It reduces people to categories and then pits them against each other.
‘But I am more than black, female and even conservative. I am British.
‘I am British, as we all are, and my children are British, and I will not allow anyone on the left to tell them that they belong in a different category, or anyone on the right to tell them that they do not belong in their own country.’
The Home Secretary told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: ‘The strengthening of the legislation that I’m going to bring about is based on the ability of the police to place conditions and restrictions on protests.
Shabana Mahmood unveiled new laws handing police more powers to clamp down on repeat protests after 492 marchers were arrested this weekend
‘And what I will be making explicit is that cumulative disruption – that is to say, the frequency of particular protests in particular places – is, in and of itself, a reason for the police to be able to restrict and place conditions.
‘That is to say, they can move them to a different place, they can restrict the time that those protests can occur on, so that will unlock all of the broader measures that the police can already do on protests.
‘It’s been clear to me in conversations in the last couple of days that there is a gap in the law and there is an inconsistency of practice, so I’ll be taking measures immediately to put that right.’
