Labour urged to ‘send powerful message’ to Iran by taking urgent decision | Politics | News

Shabana Mahmood has been told that “large numbers” of Iranian diplomats should be deported from the UK if Tehran is behind a series of anti-Semitic arson attacks. Shadow Home Secretary Matt Vickers has called on Labor to copy the deportation of Russian spies following the Salisbury Novichok nerve agent attack.

Security chiefs believe the move fundamentally changes the way Moscow’s intelligence officers operate in the UK. And Mr Vickers said removing diplomats in Tehran would “send a strong message and undermine Iran’s ability to operate on UK soil”.

A series of attacks on Jewish sites in London raises the “disturbing” possibility of a foreign state using hate crime to sow conflict in the UK, one of the country’s most senior police officers has warned.

Detectives and intelligence chiefs are trying to establish whether Iran is paying British criminals to carry out acts on British soil following a series of incidents including an arson attack on Jewish community ambulances and an attempted arson attack on synagogues in Finchley and Kenton and a former Jewish charity in Hendon.

Mr Vickers said: “How much more action does Iran need to take on our UK soil before the government takes action to ban the IRGC?”

The leading Tory advocate added: “If Iran is behind these latest attacks, then large numbers of Iranian diplomats and those suspected of being Iranian spies in the UK should be deported immediately, as were Russian diplomats and spies after the Salisbury attack. This would send a strong message and undermine Iran’s ability to operate on UK soil.”

Mr Vickers asked: “Will the government also commit to deporting any foreign national who expresses extremist views, sympathizes with violence or terrorism, expresses antisemitism or any similar religious hatred?”

In another incident, a drone flew near the Israeli embassy in London and a petrol bomb was dropped on the website of Volant Media, the parent company of Persian-language news channel Iran International.

The group, which calls itself Harakat Ashab al-Yemin al-Islamiye, the Islamic Movement of the Right Companions, which is suspected of being backed by Iran, has claimed responsibility for most of the incidents, as well as other attacks in Europe since March 9.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes told LBC: “We will be looking extremely closely at whether these allegations are valid.

“Their purpose is to intimidate, so we need to separate what is happening online, what is posted and what is alleged, from what we can prove.

“But I think this is an extraordinary time.

“Unfortunately, we have seen hate crimes in our societies before, we have seen radicalization towards terrorism.

“But now we have the possibility that a foreign state could use this as a mechanism to create discord, discontent and anxiety in our societies.

“This is really disturbing.”

He told the broadcaster that “hired thugs” risked long prison sentences if they agreed to commit crimes on behalf of foreign governments in exchange for a paltry sum of money.

Mr Jukes gave the example of Dylan Earl, who was jailed for 17 years after agreeing to carry out an arson attack in Leyton, east London, on behalf of the Russia-backed group Wagner in 2024.

In the latest attack, a tear gas bomb was thrown through the window of the Kenton United Synagogue around midnight on Sunday and landed in the medical room.

Jewish charity Community Security Trust (CST) said there was minor damage to the inner room due to smoke, but there were no injuries or significant structural damage.

Mr Jukes previously told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that a 17-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the incident.

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis described the arson attack as “cowardly” and said a “sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community in the UK is gaining momentum”.

“This sustained attack on our community’s ability to worship and live safely is an attack on the values ​​that hold us all together,” his statement shared on X said.

The video, apparently posted online by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, also known as Hayi, shows a man in dark clothing burning an item and throwing it at the Kenton United Synagogue before fleeing.

The image was taken by another person behind the metal fence surrounding the building.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “appalled by the latest attempted anti-Semitic arson attacks in north London”.

In his statement on X, he added: “This is disgusting and will not be tolerated. Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain.”

Later in the House of Commons, Home Secretary Dan Jarvis said those taking hostile actions against the UK would face “severe consequences” and assured MPs that Iran would be held accountable.