Police stood by as “From the River to the Sea” was projected onto Parliament, a senior Jewish MP has said. 

Andrew Percy, a Tory backbencher, raised concerns after pro-Palestine protesters broadcast the slogan “From the river to the sea” onto the Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, on Wednesday night.

He spoke out during a Commons debate that saw many MPs express fears for their safety and warn that threats from “Islamist extremists” were stifling democracy.

It came after Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, sparked angry scenes on Wednesday by breaking with convention to select a Labour amendment on Gaza.

He revealed that he made his decision after being warned of threats to the safety of Labour MPs if they were not allowed to vote on their own party’s proposal.

At the same time, thousands of pro-Palestinian activists had gathered in Parliament Square, chanting slogans that could be clearly heard in the building.

The protesters used a projector to beam the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” onto Elizabeth Tower.

Rising tide

Mr Percy warned the Commons of the rising tide of anti-Semitism, saying he had felt safer during a recent trip to Israel than he did in Britain.  

“For months I’ve been standing up here talking about the people on our streets demanding ‘death to Jews’, demanding Jihad, demanding intifadas as the police stand by and allow that to happen,” he said.

“Last night a genocidal call of ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ was projected onto this building.

“That message says no Jew is welcome in the state of Israel or in that land. This is going to continue happening because we’re not dealing with it.”

Penny Mordaunt, the Commons Leader, told him the authorities were looking into who projected the message and that prosecutions would be brought.

She said: “With regard to the projections put on this building last night that is being looked at by both the Speaker’s office, parliamentary security, the Metropolitan Police and Westminster City Council who will be responsible for pursuing prosecutions in that case.”

Mr Percy was not the only Tory MP to criticise the Metropolitan Police’s handling of months of pro-Palestinian protests in London.

Dr Matthew Offord, the MP for Hendon, also attacked the force for its inaction in the face of growing intimidation of Jewish people.

He said: “Many of my constituents have faced a level of anti-Semitism that we’ve never seen before.

“My constituents remind me not only of the calls for jihad on the streets of London and the Metropolitan Police refusing to do anything about it.

“They remind me about men driving through North London threatening to rape Jewish women and the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] then declining to prosecute them.”

Safety risk

A large number of MPs expressed concerns over rising anti-Semitism and threats to the safety of Parliamentarians from “Islamist extremists”.

Theresa Villiers, the MP for Chipping Barnet, said there was “a climate of hardline support which has seen anti-Semitism on the streets of our capital city and my constituents from the Jewish community feeling intimidated about coming into the centre of London”.

Robert Jenrick, a former immigration minister, added: “We have allowed our streets to be dominated by Islamist extremists, and British Jews and others to be too intimidated to walk through central London week after week.

“Now we’re allowing Islamist extremists to intimidate British members of Parliament. This is wrong, it has to stop.”

Ms Mordaunt said that “British Jews are suffering a grotesque level of hatred and abuse which quite frankly shames our country.”

She added: “There cannot be any tolerance or quarter given to those individuals that threaten and try to prevent MPs conducting their business and honouring the obligations they have to their constituents to use their judgement when they come into this place.”

The debate was triggered after chaotic scenes in the Commons on Wednesday night sparked by the SNP’s bid to force a vote on a Gaza ceasefire.

Chaotic scenes

Sir Lindsay went against the advice of his clerks by selecting a Labour amendment to the SNP’s motion, angering both the Scottish party and the Tories.

He made his decision following intense lobbying from Sir Keir Starmer, who is said to have warned him about the threats Labour MPs were facing.

But it sparked a furious response, with SNP and Tory MPs walking out of the chamber en masse at one point in protest at his handling of the situation.

In the end, both the Government’s amendment and the original SNP motion were not voted on, while Labour’s proposal was nodded through by MPs.

The Speaker apologised to MPs and denied suggestions he had made the decision to spare Sir Keir the embarrassment of a damaging rebellion.

He insisted he had been motivated by the safety of Labour MPs, telling the Commons: “I have a duty of care and if my mistake is looking after members, I am guilty.

“I never ever want to go through a situation where I pick up a phone to find a friend, of whatever side, has been murdered by terrorists.”