‘Never again is not just a promise, but a duty’ says Starmer in Yom HaShoah message

Keir Starmer has said the decision to block Kanye West from entry to the UK is firm evidence of how he will act to protect the community, adding the rapper’s booking for a music festival in London “was hateful, dangerous, and could not be allowed to go unchecked.”

The Prime Minister referenced last week’s decision to ban the rapper for coming to the country as he delivered a message on Yom HaShoah, on which he noted, “we remember the six million Jews who were killed, and we acknowledge the deep grief and anguish that remembrance brings for Jewish communities today.”

Starmer said that he recognised Holocaust Remembrance Day this year takes place “at a time of profound anxiety.”

“Conflicts overseas, pressures at home, and uncertainty about the future weigh heavily – compounded by a troubling rise in antisemitic attacks and terrorist plots targeting Jewish communities across the country,” added the PM.

He said he wanted to be clear that his Government would act to protect Jewish communities.

The PM added:”We will not hesitate, and we will not look away.”

Then, referencing the decision to block rapper West, after his lengthy spell of praising Hitler and spouting antisemitic bile for which he has now asked for forgiveness, the PM said: “His catalogue of vile, antisemitic abuse made it completely unacceptable for him to headline Wireless. It went far beyond controversy – it was hateful, dangerous, and could not be allowed to go unchecked.

“I understand just how distressing it was for many Jewish families to see someone like that given a platform in an area they call home.”

The PM also referenced last week’s announcement of £5 million for the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police to deploy specialist officers under Project Servator, delivering highly visible patrols to detect threats early and tackle antisemitism and hate crime head-on.

This followed the deadly Heaton Park synagogue attack on Yom Kippur and the more recent Golders Green arson attack.

The PM ended his message by saying: “Remembrance must come with responsibility – to honour the past, to protect the present, and to ensure that ‘never again’ is not just a promise, but a duty we uphold.”