Antisemitism

Susan Hall AM moved, and Tony Devenish AM seconded the following amended motion:

“This Assembly places on record its disgust and condemnation at the incidents of antisemitism seen across London in recent weeks. Antisemitism has no place in our city, and we stand with all Jewish Londoners at this extremely worrying time.

This Assembly acknowledges the Mayor’s work to make London safer for all its citizens by tackling anti-Semitism and all hate crime.

This Assembly calls on the Mayor and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to:

• Commission and publish a specific strategy for tackling antisemitism in London;
• Conduct a review of the robustness of all MPS responses to all reported incidents of antisemitism in 2021;
• Ensure the strongest possible action is taken by the MPS against all examples of antisemitism displayed in London in recent weeks, and make clear that such behaviour will not be tolerated in the future;
• Ensure all police officers remain impartial and do not make political gestures whilst on duty, committing to full and thorough investigations of incidents where reports of such behaviour emerge; and
• Ensure that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, as adopted by the Mayor and Assembly, is strongly enforced across London.

We recognise that ultimately the power to ban protests lies solely with the Home Secretary, who should carefully scrutinise future requests for demonstrations to ensure a zero-tolerance approach against any antisemitic speech or imagery, with guarantees that such behaviour will not be permitted and will be swiftly dealt with if it arises.”

Following debate and upon being put to a vote, the amended motion was agreed unanimously.