Friday, October 10, 2025
Starmer takes another step towards authoritarianism
The Guardian reports that Starmer will be ordering the home secretary to look at further curbs on protests including potential powers to take action against specific inflammatory chants at pro-Palestinian protests.
The paper says that the prime minister told reporters that he is looking at going even further than the measures announced by Shabana Mahmood, which would look at the “cumulative impact” of repeat protests in certain locations:
The proposals have been attacked by civil liberties group over the threats the potential restrictions pose to the right to protest. But after a terror attack on a Manchester synagogue, Starmer is also under pressure to go further, especially over chants that could invoke violence, such as “globalise the intifada”.
Over the weekend, Mahmood said the new laws would allow police officers to consider the cumulative impact of protest when deciding whether or not they are lawful. Protests could be re-routed or even barred altogether if their impact was considered too disruptive.
But Starmer said there was more that could be done, specifically to address the small minority of protesters on pro-Gaza marches who he suggested engaged in antisemitic hate.
“I’ve asked the home secretary to look more broadly at what other powers are available, how they’re being used and whether they should be changed in any way,” he said. “I think we need to go further than that in relation to some of the chants that are going on at some of these protests.”
Starmer also suggested that police forces could take further steps themselves. “That has to be part of the review that we carry into what powers do we have and how they’re being exercised. And then the question of do any of these powers therefore need to be changed or enhanced?
“And that’s the exercise we’re going through. But we are talking at length to leaders of the Jewish community about this, as you would expect.”
Starmer said the review would take in all of the government’s current powers over public order. “I think we need to review more broadly public order powers and there will be a series of actions that we will agree in due course across Whitehall,” he said.
There are already laws against hate crime, meaning that these additional provisions are only needed as part of an attempt to suppress dissent. Labour really are returning to their authoritarian type.
