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I'm speaking to Jewish friends of mine who say that in years gone by, they've felt safe living in Britain
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They've just been able to get on with their lives like anybody else. Now, Jewish communities feel under threat
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People feel unsafe in this country. Jewish friends of mine are saying, well, do we stay in the UK? Do we go somewhere else
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The UK is still safer than many other places, but it's not the safe place that it used to be
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Kemi Bainot has been talking this weekend particularly about how we need a much stronger response from the government to anti-Semitism
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It needs to be treated as a national emergency. The government needs to take this much more seriously
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Well, your leader, in fact, has said that anti-Semitism cannot remain acceptable in supposedly polite dinner party conversations
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What does she mean by that? What does she have in mind? That's just one of the things that's been pulled out from an interview in an article that she's written on this
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talking about the fact that it's almost become normalised, I guess, in the current scene
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and somewhat under the guise of pro-Palestine and to some extent. Have you been at dinner parties where people have been anti-Semitic
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No, I haven't. But what I have heard is people thinking that if they are kind of advocating for Palestine
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then they're kind of somehow on the side of virtue. Well, actually, when you look at some of the protests that have taken place
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which have been actually strongly anti-Israel, including people calling for the end of Israel
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and for Jewish people to be out of Palestine. But criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism
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are not the same thing, are they? And indeed it's dangerous to elide them. But what we're seeing is the two things
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actually being bundled together and people not realising that if they are getting involved in that
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they're becoming part of this whole movement against Israel and against Jewish people
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But you can go on a protest protesting Israeli government policy and not be anti-Semitic
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So I think the problem is that what we've seen happen with some of the protests is that there are Jews on these protests
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Some of them have become breeding grounds for anti and extremism And this has to be called out It is not OK They truly they not just peaceful protests they are truly hate marches calling for the end of Israel
2:07
You're saying that all the people on there are conducting hate? I think what you see, if you see those marches, that is what is going on
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I've certainly seen pockets of that, but let's be clear, I mean you're saying these marches should be banned? Yeah, and marches in their own right are a process of radicalisation, being involved in them
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And of course, I'm not talking about every single person, but you have to overrule at the thing that is happening here
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And we have to say in our society, that is one of the things that can happen in a march
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That is what is going on in our country. And we have to say, this is not all right
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We are a tolerant society. We're not going to have this happening. We want to be a place where if you're Jewish, you know that you can live in safety
2:45
And that is not the case, not how people are feeling. So let's be clear. So you're saying that those marches should be banned, partly because they're marches, as you say, of radicalisation
2:52
Would you be happy with, say, Tommy Robinson's marches, which included Elon Musk calling for the overthrow of our government
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You're happy for that to go ahead? I don't believe that Tommy Robinson here is talking about wanting to get rid of Israel and eradicate the Jewish people
3:06
So that is a completely different thing. But at multiple demonstrations, not just his
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but including Britain First rallies, for example, we've seen crowds chanting things like, Allah is a paedophile, Muslim bombers off our streets
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signs reading, stop Islam, ban Islam, or framing Islam as inherently violent or incompatible with Britain
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Lots of Muslims would see that and think that threatens me. Should they be banned
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So I want a tolerant society and I want people to be able to freely protest and express their views
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But what I don't want is a situation where we start tolerating events which are basically calling for the eradication of the Jewish population
3:42
They're calling for Muslims to be left to be deported from Britain. All right. Yeah. But I don't want to see much as where people, where Jewish people are basically under threat
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and it's seen as somehow acceptable. And that's completely fine. I'm just wondering where the line is because you're saying that that's a problem
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and lots of people will agree with you but there be lots of Muslims who think that those things I just described are also a problem make them feel unsafe But you saying that fine I think if somebody calling to death to all Muslims I be against that too I
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be, treat the same things, treat those things equally. But that is not what I'm hearing
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What I'm hearing is different things going on here. And as I said, what is very clearly
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wrong and what has gone wrong in this country is allowing marches, which are essentially
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calling death to Jewish people. But what you're saying, I mean, you're saying that not everyone, I mean, you know, not everyone clearly at those marches for Gaza and Palestine would be racist
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Clearly they wouldn't be. But you're saying that some of the people that are racist and are calling for violent, appalling things
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So on the basis of that logic, you would ban Tommy Robinson's rally because some of the people, not all the people that are racist and calling for appalling things, but some people are
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I've explained my position. It feels to me like we're going around in circles
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So I don't see the benefit in going on as to one thing versus another
4:57
I'm just wondering what the consistency is. That's all. It is consistent. I'd say, and a free appeasal process is one thing
5:05
No, calling for a death to a group of people, that is not okay
5:11
Ban Islam. That is not the right thing in our country. Ban Islam. So ban Muslims, basically. How is that not really dangerous to a group of people when you're saying ban Islam
5:19
I'm saying calling for the death of a group of people. a whole of people, of the Jewish people
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that is not something... So ban Judaism would be okay? I just..
5:28
So what we're saying, I think you're going into hypotheticals. What about this
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What about that? We've seen what's happened. What we've seen happen in this country
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is it become normalized, that it is essentially okay to call for the end of Israel
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And we don't agree with that. Some Muslims think, lots of Muslims think that hatred against them
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has become normalized. You don't agree? I don't support hatred against, you know, any group of people
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So there's a very specific thing that was happening. And look, we're seeing it in the rise of
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this huge rise of where we started this conversation in attacks against Jewish people. It absolutely appalling Huge rise of anti translating into violence translating into people lies and people We also seen Mosses attacks and so on We seen hatred on the rise in every direction So let not allow this kind of hatred
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And there's a point at which you have to draw a line. OK. On an issue of sensitivity, there's been criticism of your party this week
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publishing a video online defending Troubles veterans and criticising the government's veterans bill
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accidentally using footage of British soldiers killing unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday as the backdrop
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What does it say about the competence of CCHQ that no one apparently at any level recognised the footage from one of the most documented and darkest hours in modern British military history
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So what I know is that as soon as that was spotted, that the video was taken down and Kemi has apologised and said, of course, that shouldn't have been there
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What do you say to those in Northern Ireland who say it proves the Conservative Party does not understand the sensitivities in Northern Ireland
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If you actually see the reaction that Kemi took the moment she heard about it and the video was taken down
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I think that shows exactly an appreciation about the sensitivities. One more thing on the Nigel Farage donation
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Do you think he should hand it back? I don't think he should have accepted it. Gift, I should say
7:07
Yeah, the gift. I mean, first and foremost, he should have declared it
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I mean, it's very clear. The rules are clear on this. If you receive, whether you call it a gift or a donation
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whatever it is, it should be declared. And, you know, the idea that he's kind of the man on the street like everybody else
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like he likes to be known as. That is absolutely not the case. And is it time to take these big money donations out of British politics
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I mean, let's leave aside the gift. He gave £12 million last year. A foreign-based donor
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But he could give to any political party or anyone in that situation. Conservative Party has also taken a lot of money from big donors over the years
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Labour Party takes donations too. Is it time to sort out the system? I think it is extraordinary to see a donation
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And that amount of money going to one man, essentially going to Nigel Farage from the Thai crypto billionaire to reform
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And, oh, in other news, reformer has very pro crypto policies. That begs a question. Is he being bought? What's going on in British politics? I don't want to see that
