London Thanasis Gavos

Rishi Sunak made an emergency speech outside Downing Street late Friday afternoon, wanting to highlight the “threat to democracy” from the cases of extremism in the country, which have increased due to the war in the Middle East.

The British prime minister’s speech follows a tumultuous period due to the war, which has included the Speaker of the House of Commons deviating from procedural rules in the legislature over his concerns for the safety of MPs, protest rallies outside MPs’ homes, an arson attack on an MP’s office of north London, intense public debate over the purpose and slogans of the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, and a sharp rise in incidents of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

“There are extremist forces trying to divide us,” Mr Sunak said, further citing a “shocking increase in extremist disorder and crime” in recent times. “Now our democracy itself is a target,” he added, referring among other things to the incidents against parliamentarians.

He described as “beyond worrying” yesterday’s by-election victory for the Rochdale seat of controversial veteran left-wing politician George Galloway, whom he accused of glorifying Hamas.

He made special reference to the demonstrations that lead to incidents or illegal slogans and actions, commenting that there are “small groups that are hostile to our values” who prey on these protest events. He added that extreme Islamists and far-right organizations “spread a poison, extremism”.

He called on citizens to unite against extremism and announced tougher policing of protests.

Mr Sunak is under pressure from the far-right wing of the Conservative Party to adopt even tougher measures against anti-Semitism, but also from the opposition, which accuses right-wing Tory figures of often stoking tensions with Islamophobic comments.