British Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Steve Reed has strongly condemned the rise in antisemitic incidents across the UK, warning that some bear disturbing similarities to “1930s Germany.”
Speaking at a Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) event, Reed shared a string of troubling examples and emphasized the urgent need for action. “I'm talking about identifying those places where antisemitism festers and grows so we can root it out. That is absolutely what we have to do,” he said, acknowledging that while the government is taking steps, “but we are far away from that point right now.”
In remarks first reported by The Jewish Chronicle, Reed revealed that a Jewish Member of Parliament had been barred from visiting a primary school in his own constituency out of concern that his presence “inflames the teachers.” Reed called the incident “an absolute outrage.”
He also cited other incidents, including a cultural day at a Jewish school where children were reportedly served cookies shaped like the map of Israel and decorated with the Palestinian flag, an act he said was “teaching children things that are antisemitic.” Reed also expressed frustration over the lack of response by law enforcement after he and his family were harassed by demonstrators.
Reed further condemned pro-Palestinian protests staged outside an Israeli restaurant in London and criticized a professional who allegedly said she “wasn’t comfortable” working with a Jewish publishing house, saying it reminded him “of 1930s Germany, not Britain in the 2020s.”
“We have to call this stuff out. We have to have consistency, and we have to be prepared to change the law when it happens,” he said. “Otherwise, we are legitimizing this at the fringes, and that's where it grows from.”
The minister underscored that it is unacceptable for Jewish schools to be surrounded by barbed wire, for community centers to require security checks and guards or for Jewish congregations to be asked to disperse quickly after prayer. “It's not normal,” Reed said, vowing that the government stands firmly with the Jewish community and will act wherever antisemitism is found.
Reed also criticized local councils and the Green Party for promoting boycotts of Israel. “Councils don't have foreign policy. They don't need foreign policy. They need to be looking at how they're caring for older people, fixing the potholes in the road and getting fly tipping off the corner of the streets where people live,” he said.