Starmer’s wife ‘forced out of her home’ by pro-Palestine activists, court told
Three people have been charged with harassing a person in their home under section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and for breaching court bail
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Keir Starmer’s wife Victoria was “effectively forced out of her own home” after pro-Palestine activists launched a protest outside, a court has been told.
On Tuesday, a group of demonstrators who call themselves Youth Demand hung a banner outside the Starmer family’s house that read: “Starmer stop the killing,” surrounded by red hand prints.
The group placed rows of children’s shoes – representing the deaths of children in Gaza – up the pathway leading to the front door of the Starmer family’s north London property, demanding the Labour leader stop the UK sending arms to Israel.
Leonorah Ward, 21, of Leeds, Zosia Lewis, 23, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Daniel Formentin, 24, of Leeds, have been charged with harassing a person in their home under section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and for breaching court bail.
Prosecutor David Burns told Westminster Magistrates’ Court the incident had “really affected” Keir’s wife, Victoria, who was “effectively forced out of her own home” after she had “returned from a shopping trip with her son”.
The protest meant she could not return to her home because she “felt intimidated”, Burns said.
In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, Youth Demand called for a two-way arms embargo on Israel, saying that weapons manufactured in the UK were being “used to cause genocide”.
The same group sprayed Labour HQ with red paint on Monday and later claimed that 11 people had been arrested in relation to that incident.
The protest has led to condemnation from senior politicians including Rishi Sunak.
After the demonstration, Home Secretary James Cleverly tweeted: “There is no excuse for harassing and intimidating politicians and their families in their homes.”
Starmer and his wife Vic, whose family are Jewish have two children, who they are “bringing up to recognize the faith of part of their grandfather’s family, and it’s very important,” he has previously said.
“Just carving out that tradition, that bit of faith on Friday is incredibly important,” the Labour leader added.
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