The Metropolitan Police have arrested a Green Party local election candidate on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred after allegedly posting antisemitic content on social media. Two women, aged 57 and 54, were detained on Thursday morning under the Public Order Act 1986 following a report received on Tuesday, 21 April.
Details of the Arrest
One of the women is confirmed to be a candidate for the Green Party in the upcoming local elections. The posts in question, seen by The Telegraph, allegedly included comments such as: “ramming a synagogue isn’t anti-Semitism, it’s revenge.” Another now-deleted post claimed the government was overrepresented with “Zionist Jews,” while a further post reportedly featured a picture of a serpent marked with the Star of David choking the world.
The Metropolitan Police stated: “Police have arrested two women, aged 57 and 54, on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred online, an offence under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986. They remain in police custody. The arrests follow an investigation launched after concerns were reported to police on Tuesday, 21 April about antisemitic material that had been posted online.”
A Green Party spokesperson declined to comment, saying: “This is now a police matter. We won't be commenting at this stage.”
Context of Rising Antisemitism
The arrests came just hours after two Jewish men were stabbed in an alleged terror attack in Golders Green, north-west London. This incident is the latest in a series of attacks on the Jewish community in the area, prompting calls for urgent action and accusations that the government has not done enough to combat antisemitism.
In response, the government announced an additional £25 million to increase security for Jewish communities, bringing the total funding this year to £58 million. The money will be used to boost police patrols and protections around synagogues, schools, and community centres.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who was heckled while visiting a Jewish community ambulance centre in Golders Green on Thursday, addressed the nation, saying: “At moments like this, we often say, this is not Britain, that these attacks are an affront to British values, to British tolerance, British decency. But they keep happening, don’t they?... Antisemitism is an old, old hatred, history shows that the roots are deep, and if you turn away, it grows back. Yet, far too many people in this country diminish it. They either don’t see it or they don’t want to see it.”
