Photo by Merch HÜSEY on Unsplash
Following Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recent statement urging students not to attend pro-Palestine protests, SouthLondonLines took to the streets of Lewisham to find out what people thought.
The response to Starmer’s plea was overwhelmingly negative.
Sarah Dobson, 18, a student at Goldsmiths, said it was “an infringement on our freedom of speech”. She disagreed that it would promote anti-Semitism. Starmer, she alleged, was simply “frightened of the way things are going in Gaza”.
Queenie, a 56-year-old teacher, said she had renounced her lifelong membership of Starmer’s Labour Party because of his stance on the Gaza war. She said his Starmer’s comments were “appalling” and that he had “brought shame upon his party”.
Several people said the PM’s statement seemed to be aimed at blocking students from their right to protest and to silence them on the Gaza war as their views do not align with the government’s support of Israel in the conflict.