'Britain is not Britain without Jews' - Thousands gather for rally against antisemitism

Robert Rinder, the lawyer, TV personality and grandson of a Holocaust survivor, gave an emotional speech in which he warned that Jews had sat “for too long in fear”, and “what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews”.

What started with the Jews, he said, “ends up as a malignant force in society as a whole... what starts with a mural ends up in murder.”

The rally, Mr Rinder said, was "not about politics but there are certain things which disqualify you from the leadership of this country”, adding that being Jewish in Britain today should not have to be "an act of courage”.

Actress and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman listed to the crowd some of the hate-filled rhetoric to which she had been subjected since she began speaking out against antisemitism on social media.

She said she hoped “the political class would deal with this kind of thing”, but said they had not.

She said one person recently asked her: “If your family died in the Holocaust, why are you still here?”

She said the Jewish community was currently caught between the hard left and the far right, and that misogyny was bound up with the abuse.

But she said: “I will not shut up, I will not be intimidated and I will not go away.”

Thanking journalists who had supported Jews, she also brought a message from actor Sanjeev Bhaskar, who said that the fight against antisemitism “is a fight for the soul of our society”.

Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson also sent a message, saying that she received “thousands of letters at her publication from readers saying they were ready to form a Praetorian Guard around the UK Jewish community”.

Fiyaz Mughal, founder of Muslims Against Antisemitism, received cheers when he declared: “Britain is not Britain without Jews”.

Other speakers were historian Tom Holland and Trupti Patel, president of the Hindu Forum of Britain, who spoke of the close parallels and links between the Hindu and Jewish communities.

Gideon Falter, chief executive of the CAA, said the rally was being held to deliver a simple message: “Britain is better than this”.

The event concluded with the reading of the prayer said in every synagogue on Shabbat, for the well-being of the government.