The government could consider pursuing more curbs on protest laws, including targeting some of the chants used at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, the prime minister has said.
Sir Keir Starmer said his government needed to “go further” than the measures it announced last week, which will grant police forces broader powers to restrict repeat protests.
Protest group Defend our Juries accused the government of “doubling down” on an “anti-democratic agenda”.
Sir Keir had urged students not to join pro-Palestinian protests on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel on Tuesday, warning of “rising antisemitism on our streets”.
The anniversary came less than a week after a deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
While travelling on a trade mission to Mumbai in India on Wednesday, Sir Keir was asked what action he would take after protesters took to the streets a day earlier.
Referring to a review into protest laws being carried out by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, the prime minister said: “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.
“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,” he added.
Students from London universities took part in a joint march on Tuesday, while rallies took place in Edinburgh, Belfast and Sheffield.
Among the chants heard at the protests was: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Some use the chant as a call for Palestinian control of all land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, including Israel.
Critics say the slogan is a call for the destruction of the state of Israel.
That interpretation is disputed by pro-Palestinian activists who say that most people chanting it are calling for an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza, not the destruction of Israel itself.
Guidance from the Met Police issued last year currently states that while this chant is “difficult and controversial”, it is unlikely the force would pursue persecution over its use.
Defend our Juries, a group that is campaigning against the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation by the UK government, said Sir Keir’s comments on Wednesday “further confirms what we’ve warned about all along: that proscribing Palestine Action would pave the way for further authoritarian crackdowns on our fundamental rights to free speech in this country.
“It’s astonishing that Labour is doubling down on this anti-democratic agenda, even after widespread backlash from human rights groups, legal experts, and free speech advocates across the political spectrum over their decision to ban a domestic protest group for the first time in British history.
“Every day in Gaza, the equivalent of a classroom of children is being killed by Israeli forces – yet our Prime Minister is talking about banning chants. That says everything about how little he values Palestinian lives.”
On Sunday Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said police forces would be granted powers to put conditions on repeated protests.
Senior officers will be able to consider the “cumulative impact” of previous protests, which could mean they instruct organisers to hold events elsewhere if there have been repeated demonstrations at one site, the Home Office said.
The move was not a ban on protests but “about restrictions and conditions”, Mahmood said, adding that repeated large-scale pro-Palestinian protests had caused “considerable fear” for the Jewish community.
She also said a review of current protest legislation was ongoing and it would included looking at powers to ban protests outright.
Currently, for police to ban a march entirely, there needs to be a risk of serious public disorder.
On Saturday, nearly 500 people were arrested in central London during protests in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action, the Metropolitan Police said.
