Britain has tolerated radical Islamism 'for too long,' Badenoch says: Video
Britain’s conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has said the country has stood on the sidelines and has “tolerated radical Islamism for too long,” following last week’s Heaton Park synagogue attack.
Speaking to party members as they gathered for the annual conference, Badenoch paid tribute to the victims of what she called a “horrific and despicable” assault on Manchester’s Jewish community during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
“Targeting the centre of community life on the holiest day of the year was not just an attack on British Jews, it was an attack on all of us. It was an attack on our humanity and on Britain’s values of freedom, compassion and respect,” Badenoch said.
She warned that anti-semitic hate and radical Islamist ideology had been “allowed to fester unchecked” in Britain’s streets for years, pointing to inflammatory slogans at protests and intimidation of Jewish communities.
“We have tolerated this in our country for too long,” she said. “You can think what you like and, within the law, say what you like, but you have no right to turn our streets into theatres of intimidation, and we will not let you do so anymore,” she warned.
She further urged the country to draw a “firm line” against importing values hostile to Britain’s democratic principles. She reassured Jewish communities that the government “stands with you shoulder to shoulder.”
A man believed to be Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian origin, was shot dead by police after launching an attack on a Manchester synagogue during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Two worshippers, Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 55, were killed in the incident. Police confirmed that one of the victims died after being accidentally shot by officers attempting to stop the attacker.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
