Suella Braverman has warned of a “fifth column” threatening Britain, in the wake of the arson attack which destroyed four Hatzola ambulances.
Speaking to the JC after touring the scene of the fire, the former Home Secretary claimed a “community of people” from outside the UK “are intent on destroying this country and its values of tolerance and decency.”
The former Conservative who is now a Reform MP said: “A large part of that involves antisemitic hatred, and it is not spoken about enough, it is not policed enough, it is tolerated.”
Touring the site of the blast on Monday evening, Braverman said it was “heartbreaking to see another attack on the Jewish community”.
The MP for Fareham and Waterlooville in Hampshire said she was “increasingly frustrated by the lack of action and the mealy-mouthed words of sympathy and thoughts and prayers from our political leaders”.
Asked what she would do differently if in power, Braverman said she would ban “hate marches” and “bring an end to normalised antisemitism on our streets”.
Later, sitting down with a plate of falafels and hummus at restaurant Taboon on Golders Green Road, Braverman reflected on her time in government and said she had been repeatedly blocked from acting on extremism and antisemitism.
“I have been in government and I have tried to stop this. I tried to ban the hate marches, but a Conservative Prime Minister and a Conservative Cabinet didn't agree with me that we needed to ban the hate marches and sacked me because I wanted to ban them.”
“I would need a prime minister who actually supports me,” she added.
She reiterated her call for the proscription of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), stating that she had been prevented from taking that step while in office.
“The last Conservative government wouldn't even make the promise to do it; they just prevaricated and some of us internally were urging for the prescription and we were blocked,” she said.
While she credited Labour with going “a bit further” than the Conservatives, she criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s government for failing to act decisively despite geopolitical tensions involving Iran.
She also called for the proscription of Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, the IRGC-linked group which claimed responsibility for Monday morning’s Hatzola attack.
Braverman claimed both Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch did not fully grasp the “seriousness of the problem” of antisemitism. She described Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood as “superficially robust”, but suggested her actions indicated reluctance “to rock the boat”.
Calling for a broader crackdown on extremism, Braverman also urged the proscription of the Muslim Brotherhood and a “firm approach to extremism in mosques”.
“Extremist preachers need to be arrested and if they are foreign nationals kicked out of this country,” she said, advocating “zero tolerance towards antisemitism” across public institutions, including universities, the NHS, schools and the BBC.
Ahead of speaking to local residents at a Stop the Hate rally near the scene of the Hatzola attack, Braverman praised British Jews.
“The Jewish community is contributing to British life, be that the British economy, our jobs, our arts, our culture; it is well integrated, is patriotic, is part of the heart and soul of Britain,” she said.
“An attack on the Jewish community is an attack on Britain itself, so it is very sad to see the community under siege.”
She added, “It is staggering that Jews are leaving London because they feel safer in a war zone, Israel, than they do here, because they feel that the system is set against them – and that is a tragedy.”
It comes as Reform UK suspended its Hampshire mayoral candidate, Chris Parry, over remarks appearing to compare the Jewish neighbourhood watch group Shomrim to “Islamists on horseback”.
A Reform spokesman told PA: “Chris Parry has been suspended by Reform UK, pending investigation.”
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