Tag: Rishi Sunak

The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, outside Number 10 on 1 March 2024.

In recent weeks and months, we have seen a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality.

What started as protests on our streets, has descended into intimidation, threats, and planned acts of violence.

Jewish children fearful to wear their school uniform lest it reveal their identity.

Muslim women abused in the street for the actions of a terrorist group they have no connection with.

Now our democracy itself is a target.

Council meetings and local events have been stormed.

MPs do not feel safe in their homes.

Long standing Parliamentary conventions have been upended because of safety concerns.

I need to speak to you all this evening because this situation has gone on long enough…

…and demands a response not just from government, but from all of us.

Britain is a patriotic, liberal, democratic society with a proud past and a bright future.

We are a reasonable country and a decent people.

Our story is one of progress, of great achievements and enduring values.

Immigrants who have come here have integrated and contributed.

They have helped write the latest chapter in our island story.

They have done this without being required to give up their identity.

You can be a practising Hindu and a proud Briton as I am.

Or a devout Muslim and a patriotic citizen as so many are.

Or a committed Jewish person and the heart of your local community…

…and all underpinned by the tolerance of our established, Christian church.

We are a country where we love our neighbours.

And we are building Britain together.

But I fear that our great achievement…

…in building the world’s most successful multi-ethnic, multi faith democracy…

…is being deliberately undermined.

There are forces here at home trying to tear us apart.

Since October 7th there have been those trying to take advantage of the very human angst that we all feel…

…about the terrible suffering that war brings to the innocent, to women and children…

…to advance a divisive, hateful ideological agenda.

On too many occasions recently, our streets have been hijacked by small groups…

…who are hostile to our values and have no respect for our democratic traditions.

Membership of our society is contingent on some simple things…

…that you abide by the rule of law, and that change can only come through the peaceful, democratic process.

Threats of violence and intimidation are alien to our way of doing things: they must be resisted at all times.

Nearly everyone in Britain supports these basic values but there are small and vocal hostile groups who do not.

Islamist extremists and the far right feed off and embolden each other.

They are equally desperate to pretend that their violence is somehow justified…

…when actually these groups are two sides of the same extremist coin.

Neither group accept that change in our country can only come through the peaceful democratic process.

Both loathe the pluralist, modern country we are.

Both want to set Briton against Briton…

…to weaponise the evils of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred for their own ends.

The faith of Islam, peacefully practised by millions of our fellow citizens…

…is emphatically not the same thing as the extremist political ideology of Islamism…

…which aims to separate Muslims from the rest of society.

Islamist extremists and far rights groups are spreading a poison, that poison is extremism.

It aims to drain us of our confidence in ourselves as a people, and in our shared future.

They want us to doubt ourselves, to doubt each other, to doubt our country’s history and achievements.

They want us to accept a moral equivalence between Britain and some of the most despicable regimes in the world.

They want us to believe that our country, and the West more generally, is solely responsible for the world’s ills…

…and that we, along with our allies, are the problem.

In short, they want to destroy our confidence and hope.

We must not allow that to happen.

When these groups claim that Britain is and has been on the wrong side of history, we should reject it, and reject it again.

No country is perfect, but I am enormously proud of the good that our country has done.

Our place in history is defined by the sacrifices our people have made,

…in the service of our own freedom and that of others.

And when these groups tell children that they cannot – and will not – succeed because of who they are…

When they tell children that the system is rigged against them or that Britain is a racist country…

This is not only a lie, but a cynical attempt to crush young dreams, and turn impressionistic minds against their own society.

I stand here as our country’s first non-white Prime Minister, leading the most diverse government in our country’s history…

…to tell people of all races, all faiths and all backgrounds…

…it is not the colour of your skin, the God you believe in or where you were born, that will determine your success…

…but just your own hard work and endeavour.

We must be prepared to stand up for our shared values in all circumstances, no matter how difficult.

And I respect that the police have a tough job in policing the protests we have seen and that they are operationally independent.

But we must draw a line.

Yes, you can march and protest with passion…

You can demand the protection of civilian life…

…but no, you cannot call for violent Jihad.

There is no “context” in which it can be acceptable to beam antisemitic tropes onto Big Ben in the middle of a vote on Israel/Gaza.

And there can be no cause you can use to justify the support of a proscribed terrorist group, like Hamas.

Yes, you can freely criticise the actions of this government, or indeed any government: that is a fundamental democratic right.

But no, you cannot use that as an excuse to call for the eradication of a State – or any kind of hatred or antisemitism.

This week I have met with senior police officers and made clear it is the public’s expectation…

…that they will not merely manage these protests, but police them.

And I say this to the police, we will back you when you take action.

But if we are asking more of the police, we in government must also back up that call with action.

To that end, this month the government will implement a new robust framework for how it deals with this issue.

To ensure that we are dealing with the root causes of this problem…

…and that no extremist organisations or individuals are being lent legitimacy…

…by their actions and interactions with central government.

You cannot be part of our civic life if your agenda is to tear it down.

We will redouble our support for the Prevent programme to stop young minds being poisoned by extremism.

We will demand that universities stop extremist activity on campus.

We will also act to prevent people entering this country whose aim is to undermine its values.

The Home Secretary has instructed that if those here on visas…

…choose to spew hate on protests or seek to intimidate people…

…we will remove their right to be here.

And our Britain must not be a country in which we descend into polarised camps…

…with some communities living parallel lives.

It is not enough to live side-by-side, we must live together…

…united by shared values and a shared commitment to this country.

And I want to speak directly to those who choose to continue to protest:

Don’t let the extremists hijack your marches.

You have a chance in the coming weeks to show that you can protest decently, peacefully and with empathy for your fellow citizens.

Let us prove these extremists wrong and show them that even when we disagree…

…we will never be disunited from our common values of decency and respect.

I love this country.

My family and I owe it so much.

The time has now come for us all to stand together to combat the forces of division and beat this poison.

We must face down the extremists who would tear us apart…

…there must be leadership, not pandering or appeasement.

When they tell their lies, we will tell the truth.

When they try and sap our confidence, we will redouble our efforts.

And when they try and make us doubt each other…

…we will dig deeper for that extra ounce of compassion and empathy…

…that they want us to believe doesn’t exist, but that I know does.

If we can do that, we can build on our great achievement in creating today’s Britain…

…a country of kind, decent, tolerant people.

We can make this a country in which we all feel a renewed sense of pride.

This is our home.

So let us go forward together, confident in our values and confident in our future.

The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in London on 28 February 2024.

Lloyd, thank you for that kind introduction.

And in fact can I start by asking everyone to join me in thanking Gerald, Mark, and everyone at CST for all you do to keep our Jewish community safe.

It is shocking, and wrong, the prejudice, the racism we have seen in recent months.

That Hamas attack of October 7th was the most abhorrent act of terrorism against Israel that any of us have ever known.

And it’s been followed by record levels of antisemitism in this country that are utterly, utterly sickening.

Don’t let anyone try and tell you this is just a reaction to the response of the Israeli government as unacceptable as that would be.

The highest weekly total of antisemitic incidents came before Israel responded…

It is hatred pure and simple.

An assault on the Jewish people – here in this country, in this century and I tell you tonight: we will fight this antisemitism with everything we’ve got.

When Jewish children are hiding their school uniforms Jewish students are facing harassment on campuses the birth certificates of Jewish children are being defaced and Jewish families feel unable to enter the centre of our capital city at the weekend the whole fabric of our nation is under threat.

When I went to Kinloss Synagogue in the immediate aftermath of October 7th I said I would stand with you today, tomorrow, and always.

And I truly meant it.

Of course, we cannot solve this problem overnight.

But as Prime Minister I will lead this government in a long-term effort to strengthen your security defend our liberal democratic values and change our culture so we tackle the root causes of this hatred.

Let me say a word about each.

One of the things I most remember about that vigil in Finchley was walking out of the synagogue at this heightened moment of grief and fear in the community and seeing CST volunteers working with the police to keep us safe.

Just as they are doing here today. Just as they do every day.

They are some of the bravest volunteers in this country and on behalf not just of the Jewish community – but the whole nation I want to say a huge and heartfelt thank you.

In October we announced an additional £3 million for CST taking our total support to £18 million for this financial year.

And I can confirm we’ll commit a further £18 million next financial year.

But that’s not enough.

For years you’ve been asked to bid for funding one year at a time as if there might not be the same threat to deal with next year.

Sadly, we know CST is going to be needed for many years to come.

So tonight, I am changing the way CST is funded to help you plan for the long-term.

I’m not just committing £18 million for next year.

I’m committing a minimum of £18 million every year for the next four years.

More than £70 million for the protection of our Jewish community.

And I tell you – that is the single biggest financial commitment that any government has ever made.

Of course, it’s not just the Jewish community that has been targeted.

It’s also those who represent you.

Members of Parliament – like Mike Freer, here tonight.

Whatever political loyalties people might have I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say how sorry we are, Mike, that you had to stand down and how grateful we are for all you’ve done to support CST.

As Prime Minister, I’m not prepared to stand by, and watch MPs forced out of public service because of fears for their safety.

Nor I am prepared to allow this pattern of increasingly violent and intimidatory behaviour seemingly intended to shout down elected representatives and hijack the democratic process through force itself.

It is as un-British as it is undemocratic.

And it cannot stand.

So today I met senior police leaders in Downing Street to discuss how they will use the powers they have to defend our democracy and our values from those that seek to hijack them.

This included agreeing today a new Defending Democracy Protocol with additional patrols on MPs’ homes and constituency offices and new guidance to make clear to officers how they should protect surgeries, fundraisers, and protests all underpinned by £30 million of new funding for protective security – with every MP, councillor and candidate having a named police contact.

We will never give in to the threats of violent extremists.

We will not be cowed into changing the way our parliamentary democracy operates.

We will do whatever it takes to defend our democratic processes just as we will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.

But it’s not enough merely to strengthen our physical security we must also be far bolder and more assertive in defending our British values.

We’ve got to end this passive tolerance of words and actions that go against what we stand for.

Yes, you can march and protest with passion; you can demand the protection of civilian life but no, you cannot call for Jihad there is no “context” in which its acceptable to beam antisemitic tropes onto Big Ben and there’s no cause you can use to justify the support of proscribed terrorist groups, like Hamas.

And yes, you can freely criticise the actions of this government, the Israeli government or indeed any government.

But no, you cannot use that as an excuse to call for the eradication of a State – or any kind of hatred or antisemitism.

These statements are fundamental to the liberal democratic values that define Britain.

They are the very essence of our identity of who we are as a country.

To belong here is to believe these things; to stand up for these things.

And it’s time we were much, much clearer about this.

Now, we’ve already taken some important steps.

Within days of October 7th CST joined Ministers and police chiefs around the cabinet table in Downing Street to discuss the policing of protests.

And since then we’ve taken decisive measures to stop a small and aggressive minority of protestors carrying out antisemitic and intimidating actions.

Under our proposed laws:

The possession of flares and other pyrotechnics at protests – illegal.

Purposefully concealing your identity – illegal.

Climbing on our war memorials – illegal.

Treating protest as an excuse to engage in disruptive acts like criminal damage, blocking highways or ignoring police instructions – we’re ending that too.

And when Hizb ut-Tahrir celebrated that October 7th attack this government drew a line in sand and proscribed it.

But we need to go further – especially in our universities.

What is happening right now on campuses is simply not acceptable.

Jewish students are being targeted, threatened, and assaulted simply for being Jewish.

The Chaplain at the University of Leeds having to take his family into hiding after death threats because he’s an IDF reservist.

Iranian generals – let me say that again – Iranian generals – giving antisemitic speeches as people abuse the right to freedom of speech as a cover for hate speech.

This cannot go on.

Where people break the law on our campuses they will be met with the full consequences.

And where they create a culture of intimidation we will hold the university leadership to account.

University leaders must take personal responsibility for protecting Jewish students in their institutions.

I want you to know that we are calling in the Vice Chancellors of the country’s leading universities to meet in Downing Street to discuss exactly how they will do that.

And this goes to my third point.

Because we cannot just litigate our way to defeating antisemitism and extremism.

We’ve also got to change the culture in our country.

Where is the willingness to speak out and challenge hateful narratives?

Where is the ability to disagree with each other while retaining respect for one another?

None of this will change overnight.

It will take painstaking work over months and years.

But this government will lead by example and make an unprecedented effort to tackle the root causes of antisemitism across our society in a more joined up way.

We will call out hateful narratives.

We’ll invest in interfaith work to build greater community cohesion and understanding between others tackling anti-Muslim hatred as well as antisemitism, with the help of brilliant organisations like Tell Mama.

But we won’t fund those who risk undermining that effort.

So when the Inter Faith Network charity appointed a trustee from the Muslim Council of Britain whose previous leaders have taken positions that contradict our fundamental values we ended their funding.

We will continue to use all our diplomatic efforts to free the hostages through an immediate humanitarian pause.

Earlier this month I met the families of Emily Damari, Nadav Popplewell, Eli Sharabi and Oded Lifschitz.

Their harrowing ordeal is beyond heartbreaking.

We have to bring them home.

And we must work towards the long-term future we all want to see, of a safe and secure Israel with Palestinians living in dignity on a pathway to a viable Palestinian State.

But we don’t achieve anything by calling for a permanent ceasefire without those hostages being returned and Hamas being removed from Gaza.

A permanent ceasefire without those things isn’t a ceasefire at all.

It’s a victory for Hamas.

And this government won’t stand for it.

The biggest step we can take in changing our culture is education.

As so many of our extraordinary Holocaust survivors have said so much more eloquently than I ever could we’ve got to teach people not to hate.

That’s why we’re investing another £7 million to tackle antisemitism in our schools and universities.

And it’s why the Learning Centre is such an important part of the Holocaust Memorial.

Not only to educate those who visit the Memorial in London but as the cross-party Holocaust Commission first recommended to support a national educational mission to fight antisemitism and hatred in all its forms.

Britain is the most successful multi-ethnic democracy on earth.

But we won’t stay that way if we end up with some communities living parallel lives.

It is not enough to live side-by-side, we must live together united by shared values and a shared commitment to this country.

Let me finish on a personal note and I hope a positive one.

Now my own personal story is different from yours.

Despite the assertion in the Jewish Chronicle that and I quote – “Rishi Sunak is a nice Jewish boy” I’ve still not found any Jewish ancestry in my family tree.

But I do know something of what it is like to be seen as different from others and even to experience hatred directed towards your community because of who you are.

I know something of what it is like to be part of a community that is both proud of its own heritage and proud of its Britishness too.

I know something of what it is like to be part of a community that integrates with others from all backgrounds in society and that makes such an extraordinary contribution to our proud multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy.

That’s why supporting Britain’s Jewish community feels so personal to me.

You represent who we are and what we stand for in the world.

And that’s not just something to be defended.

It’s something to be cherished and celebrated.

And that is what I will always do.

Thank you.

The message issued by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on 31 December 2023.

The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in London on 7 December 2023.

Today the government has introduced the toughest anti-illegal immigration law ever.

I know it will upset some people and you will hear a lot of criticism about it.

It’s right to explain why I have decided to do this.

I’m the child of immigrants…

I understand why some people take the risk of getting into unsafe dinghies to cross open waters…

…it’s because the United Kingdom is an incredible country… it offers opportunity, hope and safety.

But the difference is… my family came here… legally.

Like most immigrants, they integrated into local communities…

…worked hard to provide for their family

…built lives and businesses, found friends and neighbours…

… and most of all… they were really proud to become British.

That feeling of pride… it cascades down the generations and grows… and that’s why you see so many children of immigrants sitting around the Cabinet table.

But it’s not a given… illegal immigration undermines not just our border controls… it undermines the very fairness that is so central to our national character.

We play by the rules. We put in our fair share. We wait our turn.

Now if some people can just cut all that out… you’ve not just lost control of your borders… you’ve fatally undermined the very fairness upon which trust in our system is based.

That’s why this legislation is necessary.

To deliver an effective deterrent to those who wish to come here illegally…

…to restore people’s trust that the system is fair…

… and ultimately: to stop the boats.

And so, our Bill today fundamentally addresses the Supreme Court’s concerns over the safety of Rwanda.

I did not agree with their judgement, but I respect it.

That is why I have spent the last three weeks working tirelessly to respond to their concerns…

…and to guarantee Rwanda’s safety in a new legally binding international treaty.

The Supreme Court were clear that they were making a judgement about Rwanda at a specific moment 18 months ago…and that the problems could be remedied.

Today we are confirming that they have been…

…and that unequivocally, Rwanda is a safe country.

And today’s Bill also ends the merry-go-round of legal challenges that have blocked our policy for too long.

We simply cannot have a situation where our ability to control our borders…

…and stop people taking perilous journeys across the channel…

…is held up in endless litigation in our courts.

So this Bill gives Parliament the chance to put Rwanda’s safety beyond question in the eyes of this country’s law.

Parliament is sovereign. It should be able to make decisions that cannot be undone in the courts.

And it was never the intention of international human rights laws…

…to stop a sovereign Parliament removing illegal migrants to a country that is considered safe in both parliamentary statute and international law.

So the Bill does include what are known as “notwithstanding” clauses.

These mean that our domestic courts will no longer be able to use any domestic or international law…

…including the Human Rights Act…

…to stop us removing illegal migrants.

Let me just go through the ways individual illegal migrants try and stay.

Claiming asylum – that’s now blocked.

Abuse of our Modern Slavery rules – blocked.

The idea that Rwanda isn’t safe – blocked.

The risk of being sent on to some other country – blocked.

And spurious Human Rights claims – you’d better believe we’ve blocked those too…

…because we’re completely disapplying all the relevant sections of the Human Rights Act.

And not only have we blocked all these ways illegal migrants will try and stay…

…we’ve also blocked their ability to try and stay by bringing a Judicial Review on any of those grounds.

That means that this Bill blocks every single reason that has ever been used to prevent flights to Rwanda from taking off.

The only, extremely narrow exception will be if you can prove with credible and compelling evidence…

….that you specifically have a real and imminent risk of serious and irreversible harm.

We have to recognise that as a matter of law – and if we didn’t, we’d undermine the treaty we’ve just signed with Rwanda.

As the Rwandans themselves have made clear…

…if we go any further the entire scheme will collapse.

And there’s no point having a Bill with nowhere to send people to.

But I am telling you now, we have set the bar so high…

…that it will be vanishingly rare for anyone to meet it.

And once you have been removed, you’ll be banned for life from travelling to the UK, settling here, or becoming a citizen.

But, of course, even with this new law here at home…

…we could still face challenges from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

So let me repeat what I said two weeks ago –

I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights.

If the Strasbourg Court chooses to intervene against the express wishes of our sovereign Parliament…

…I will do what is necessary to get flights off.

And today’s new law already makes clear that the decision on whether to comply with interim measures issued by the European Court…

…is a decision for British government Ministers – and British government Ministers alone.

Because it is your government – not criminal gangs, or indeed foreign courts –who decides who comes here and who stays in our country.

Now of course, our Rwanda policy is just one part of our wider strategy to stop the boats.

And that strategy is working.

I’ve been Prime Minister for just over a year now and for the first time, small boat arrivals here are down by a third….

…even as illegal crossings of the Mediterranean have soared by 80 per cent.

Let me just repeat that: small boat arrivals here are down by a third.

To help achieve that, we’ve signed returns and co-operation agreements with France, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy, and Georgia.

Illegal working raids are up by nearly 70 per cent.

50 hotels are being returned to their local communities and we are housing people in a new barge and in former military sites.

The initial asylum backlog is down from 92,000 to less than 20,000.

We’ve returned over 22,000 illegal migrants.

And as our deal with Albania shows – deterrence works.

Last year, a third of all those arriving in small boats were Albanian.

This year we have returned 5,000 people and cut those arrivals by 90 per cent.

And Albanian arrivals have far more recourse to the courts than anyone under this new legislation.

That’s why I’m so confident that this Bill will work.

Lord Sumption, the former Supreme Court Judge, believes this Bill will work.

We will get flights off the ground.

We will deter illegal migrants from coming here.

And we will, finally, stop the boats.

The message issued by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on 7 December 2023.

As we welcome the beginning of Chanukah, it’s important to recognise the challenging times being faced by our Jewish friends everywhere.

For many families, the tragedy of recent events will hang heavily on celebrations, but the resilience you have shown is humbling.

As we commemorate the recovery of Jerusalem all those centuries ago, I want to celebrate the enduring strength of Jewish communities.

I will be lighting the menorah with you as you mark this important festival and want you to be in no doubt that I will always stand with you.