William Hague has told the Jewish community that there is no need for them to leave Britain following recent terror attacks.
Speaking at JW3 community centre after four Jews were killed in a kosher supermarket in Paris, the former foreign secretary assured the Jewish community that the government was doing all it could to prevent similar atrocities occurring in the UK.
Mr Hague said: “We will work hard in the government and the security agencies to keep everyone safe, but that requires the participation of all communities, to give a strong lead and show that terrorism is the wrong way.”
“More will need to be done to do that, but you do not need to leave this country. Definitely not.”
The Leader of the House of Commons, who is retiring from politics after May’s general election, also said he saw “a ray of hope” in the reaction to attacks in France, which included worldwide rallies over the weekend.
“With four million people marching in Paris and other parts of France yesterday, people can see that hate can be defeated. There is a real will among the population, I believe, of this country, the people of France and many other European countries to defeat these mindless murderers of innocent people.
“There is a ray of hope in that immensely strong public reaction, a show of unity and determination to preserve freedom in our country. British people are very solidly behind that.”
The Conservative Party veteran also criticised comments sent from Liberal Democrat MP David Ward’s Twitter account about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joining the Paris march, which was also attended by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The first tweets said: “#Netanyahu in Paris march - what!!!! Makes me feel sick”.
This was followed by the post “Je suis #Palestinian,” playing on the popular hashtags #JeSuisCharlie and #JeSuisJuif, which trended in response to last week’s terrorist attacks.
Mr Hague called the tweets distasteful, adding: “I deplore any idea that it was wrong for Mr Netanyahu to be there. This is nations showing solidarity with each other, many of whom have had their people be victims of terrorism, and it's right that they should be able to stand together.”
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