Police row explodes as Jewish group say cops have let Islamist extremists go unchallenged

The Campaign Against Antisemitism has accused the country’s police of emboldening the far-right after months of ignoring extremist Islamist protests.

The furious condemnation of the police piles pressure on both the government and officers, as they face a barrage of criticism over claims of ‘two-tier policing’.

This morning Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley dismissed such claims.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism has now responded, telling the Express that the police bear responsibility for the violence after months of letting extremist pro-Gaza activists “go unchallenged”.

A spokesman for the Jewish group blasted: “The violence that we are seeing now on the streets of Britain is appalling, and we welcome the urgent and robust response from the authorities.

"What we are seeing now is in part the result of ten months of catastrophically poor policing. Notwithstanding our repeated calls to crack down on extremists on our streets over the past year, they were allowed to go unchallenged.

“Other extremists saw that and became emboldened.

"Once the authorities have dealt with the far-right riots and those violently reacting to them, they must finally also turn their attention to the Islamist and far-left extremism that has plagued our country for months.”

In 2022, the Campaign Against Antisemitism also reacted with fury when the Crown Prosecution Service dropped charges against four meant accused of driving to a Jewish area in North London and shouting: “F*** the Jews. F*** their mothers, rape their daughters”.

The rebuke of the Met chief’s dismissal comes after Reform UK MPs pointed to an interview by a senior West Midlands Officer, whose response to Monday night’s Muslim violence was pointed to as proof the police are being more lenient towards them.

Speaking last night, a top officer from West Midlands Police reacted to the distressing scenes of weapon-wielding Asian men attacking and intimidating journalists, describing the riot as mostly law-abiding.

He said: “The vast majority of people who attended that protest yesterday did so law-abidingly, and did so with the right intentions. There were just a small minority of people that attended there and were intent on causing either criminality, disorder or fear within our communities”.

“What we saw was a response from our communities, where they were trying to make sure that was policed within themselves, and trying to deter people from taking part in that disorder.

Asked why the police had such little presence at the riot despite weapons among the thugs, the police chief boasted that they have “really strong business and community relations and because we were aware through community relations that there was a potential protest because of misinformation we had the opportunity to meet with community leaders, business leaders, prior to that event to understand the style of policing we needed to deliver”.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice raged: “Police boss admitting they enabled and were complicit in letting marauding masked mob control Birmingham streets”.

"Utterly shameful. Two-tier politics. Two-tier policing. Two-tier Keir.”

Fellow Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe demanded “urgent change” from the police’s tactics.

He tweeted: “A remarkable interview on the Birmingham violent mob rampage”.

“‘Policed within themselves’.

“Why is one group seemingly policed in an incredibly different way to others? It clearly does NOT work.

“Two-tier policing is rife. That MUST urgently change.”