Moment Kemi Badenoch defends British Jews against heckler in Essex
The Conservative Party leader was on the campaign trail in Billericay ahead of the local elections on May 7 when she was confronted.
This is the moment Kemi Badenoch leaps to the defence of British Jews while being heckled at a campaign event in Essex.
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The Conservative Party leader was on the campaign trail in Billericay ahead of the local elections on May 7 when she was confronted by a heckler.
Mrs Badenoch hit back at the crowd member as she faced allegations of “anti-Muslim hate”.
The Tory leader was addressing the recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks, including the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green last week, when the heckler demanded more focus on “the rise of attacks on the Muslim people”.
“Are they not worth protecting?”, the heckler said.
Mrs Badenoch hit back: “The people who have died and who have been killed were Jewish people in synagogues,” she said.
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“Let’s stop pretending that something else is happening,” Mrs Badenoch added.
The exchange lasted for a few minutes before the pair left the scene.
Responding later to the incident on X, Mrs Badenoch said: “I will always engage with people who disagree with me. That is politics. But there is a difference between argument and intimidation.
“Shouting does not make a bad case good. It’s done to silence others. And it certainly does not change the truth.”
It comes as counter-terror police are investigating a suspected arson attack at a former synagogue.
Jewish security charity Shomrim said that fire crews were called out to the building in Nelson Street, Whitechapel, east London, in the early hours of Tuesday.
A string of arson attacks on Jewish community sites have rocked the capital in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has pledged to bring in a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to anti-Semitism on university campuses and called for institutions to show what they are doing to tackle the issue.
Speaking at a roundtable in Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer said: “In our schools, colleges and universities, we’re investing £7 million to tackle antisemitism while making sure that Holocaust education is taught in all schools.”
Sir Keir also warned Iran that efforts to stir up violence and hatred in the UK “will not be tolerated” amid suspicions Tehran could be backing anti-Semitic attacks.
The Prime Minister said that there would be “consequences” if Iran was found to be behind some of the incidents.
Describing the situation as a “crisis” in the wake of the Golders Green attack, Sir Keir said new legislation would be rushed through to tackle “malign threats”.
Speaking in Downing Street he said: “One of the lines of inquiry is whether a foreign state has been behind some of these incidents.
“We are investigating, of course, all the possibilities.
“And we are clear that these actions will have consequences if that proves to be the case.
“Our message to Iran or to any other country that might seek to promote violence, hatred or division in society is that it will not be tolerated.“That is why we are fast-tracking legislation to tackle these malign threats.”