Richard Tice, the Deputy Leader of Reform UK, has claimed the “scariest and hardest” thing to do in the House of Commons is to speak up for Israel and the Jewish community.
Tice was speaking yesterday to members of the Jewish community in South Hampstead Synagogue, as part of an event organised by the National Jewish Assembly (NJA).
He claimed that he was “hissed at” by MPs of opposing parties when he recently stood up to ask, “Well, if you want the war to stop, why don’t you try giving the hostages back?”
He was also apparently “catcalled and heckled” when he suggested to Prime Minster Sir Keir Starmer last month during PMQs that British taxpayers should stop funding Unwra following allegations that the agency had been infiltrated by Hamas.
Tice said the UN body is “riddled with Hamas sympathisers” after it was revealed by returned British hostage Emily Damari that she was held in Unrwa facilities during her captivity.
[Missing Credit]The NJA event was attended by over 170 people
Tice, MP for Boston and Skegness, gave the keynote address of the NJA event, which was attended by more than 170 people.
During his speech, Tice rebuked Maheen Kamran, the 18-year-old elected as councillor for Burnley Central East earlier this month who advocated the creation of segregated spaces for Muslim men and women to avoid “free mixing”.
“This is the United Kingdom. It’s not how we do things here, folks,” he said, adding, “We don’t do misogyny in this country. We’re all equal, and we operate under the English legal system. We don’t do Sharia law in this country.”
He claimed to be an early advocate of banning the regular anti-Israel marches, which he said “took over” London every two weeks for many months after October 7.
“Those marches should have been banned. They have been an absolute catastrophe for our country,” Tice said.
Earlier in the evening, Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, who co-founded the British Friends of Israel group, took part in a panel on antisemitism in policing and public order featuring Our Fight co-founder Mark Birbeck, moderated by NJA Chairman Gary Mond.
[Missing Credit](L-R) Mark Birbeck, Gary Mond and Allison Pearson discuss antisemitism in policing
Caroline Turner (director of UK Lawyers for Israel), journalist Nicole Lampert and prominent TikTok influencer Jewish Jess also held a wide-ranging talk on the state of antisemitism in education.
Elsewhere, Talk TV presenter Andre Walker, Christian Action Against Antisemitism representative Reverend Hayley Ace and journalist and co-director of Labour Against Antisemitism, Alex Hearn addressed the crowd.
