LONDON
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman is “one of the worst ministers that the UK has ever seen,” in the words of a British academic and promoter of better understanding between the West and the Muslim world.
Speaking to Anadolu on Thursday, Anas Altikriti, the founder and CEO of UK-based research and advisory group the Cordoba Foundation, said Braverman’s efforts to criminalize pro-Palestine rallies in the UK fall squarely in the realm of fascism.
“Suella Braverman … is one of the worst ministers that this country has ever seen,” said Altikriti.
Responding to Braverman, who recently called pro-Palestine demonstrators “hate marchers” and demanded British police ban the protests, Altikriti said he has never heard of such moves to ban protests before.
In a letter published by The Times of London, Braverman accused the Metropolitan Police of applying a "double standard" on protests.
The home secretary has been at odds with the Met police as they said there are no grounds to block a march for a Gaza cease-fire on Saturday, which coincides with British Armistice Day commemorations.
A #wewillmarch hashtag has appeared on social media platform X since calls to ban the march by mainly far-right messages on various platforms.
“The fact that she wanted to ban protests … this word, this term, ‘banning’ protests, I don't think I have ever heard it mentioned by any minister of any government in the past despite the fact that we have had terrible governments in the past, but no one there piled pressure on the police to stop and to criminalize protesters,” Altikriti said.
Also accusing the home secretary of trying to direct the media, Altikriti said: “No one ever called on the media to run a campaign in order to demonize protesters and to see the protests, criminalized or banned. No one!”
Fascistic tendencies
“Braverman, for some reason, has these fascist tendencies and I'm not at all wary of using this term,” he said.
“Her policies are what I studied as a young man and what I taught as a university lecturer: This is what fascism sounds like. This is what fascism looks like!”
Labour leader Starmer ‘does not understand’ the law
Criticizing both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, the academic said he hopes “one day they will stand accountable for” their support in and facilitation of what’s happening in Gaza.
“I hope that they will soon lose their positions because of their stance on this,” he said. “I hope that the people will see for who they are. These are people who do not deserve to govern, they do not deserve to be responsible for people's lives, for their welfare. They have failed at the very first test.”
He said: “Someone like Keir Starmer, who himself made his career as a human rights lawyer. He was the head of the Public Prosecution in the UK for so many years. And yes, when asked, ‘Is it within Israel’s rights to cut off food, drinking water, basic necessities, medicine, elements that people need for their everyday lives … cut it off from Gaza?’ he said, ‘Well, Israel needs to do anything, everything it can.’”
“So someone who is in that capacity yet answers to egg on and to encourage that a war crime be committed is someone who … well, in the very least, in the very kindest I can be is to say that he doesn't understand law.
“But in actual fact, he doesn't deserve to have responsibility for anyone's life. Imagine him becoming prime minister, when the country and swathes of the British population are suffering a cost of living crisis!
“Imagine how much he will care about their well-being if he cares not a jot for the lives and well-being of two-and-a-half million people, including a million children in the Gaza Strip.”
Imran Hussain, Labour MP, resigned from party front benches this week due to Starmer’s stance on the human catastrophe in Gaza. His resignation followed more than 300 councillors and 10 council leaders from the Labour Party similarly stepping down.
Politicians will answer
Altikriti also pointed the finger at Sunak, arguing that he will, alongside the home secretary and Labour leader, have to answer for their involvement in facilitating the war crimes in Gaza Strip.
The British government under Sunak has repeatedly said “Israel has a right to defend itself” following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, even though the death toll in Gaza stands now at more than 10,000.
Moreover, Tory MP Paul Bristow was sacked from his government post after backing calls for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Altikriti said: “So, you can say the same about Rishi Sunak and the same about Suella Braverman.
“Therefore to be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure that these politicians care much about the risks that they suffer, but they have all received notice from legal companies and firms and outfits from around the world, warning them that they are in contravention of the War Crime Act, and that they are now liable to be accused, to be held responsible and to suffer the consequences. I for one hope that that will happen and that it will happen very very soon.”
