Locals attending a vigil for the Manchester Synagogue terror attack angrily heckled the Deputy Prime Minister as he attempted to address the gathering, telling him to “go to Palestine” and that he has “blood on your hands”.
Two members of the Manchester Jewish community, Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53 were killed on Thursday in the course of what is being treated as a terrorist attack, allegedly by 35-year-old Syrian migrant Jihad Al-Shamie. A vigil is being held in Manchester in memory of the victims and to support the others wounded in the attack, and it was addressed by local community and national political leaders.
The Deputy Prime David Lammy, who in his previous job as Foreign Secretary had spearheaded the United Kingdom recognising a Palestinian state last month, represented the government at the vigil and was heckled by people present in the crowd.
Lammy was introduced onto the stage by Mark Adlestone, the chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region, who moments before had said: “We are proud, British, Mancunian Jews, who have contributed to this country for over 150 years. We love Manchester, and we love this country, and we proudly wave the Union Jack. Are those who are against us also proud of being British? Which flag do they wave? This is a challenge to our political leaders who are on the stage with us today.”
When Mr Adlestone named Lammy as the next speaker, the crowd immediately broke into shouts, cries, and boos, even as he stood besides the chief of Manchester Police. Among the phrases shouted at the Deputy Prime Minister included “go to Palestine”, “you are not wanted here”, “you have allowed this to happen”, “you have blood on your hands”, and “you are guilty, we do not want you speaking here today”.
After these remarks from individuals, a chant of “shame on you” was taken up by the crowd, until it was interrupted by by Adlestone, who brought the assembly to order. He said: “OK, alright, we’ve heard enough… we know how you feel. I know how I feel. Let’s give the time for our Deputy Prime Minister to address us.”
When Lammy actually stepped forward to the microphone, he was greeted — at best — by a handful of people applauding, the crowd otherwise remaining silent. As he began his speech with “Friends…” Mr Lammy was met with mocking laughter.
Nevertheless Lammy pressed on and spoke of defiance against violence and of Britain fighting terrorism uninterrupted. But as the rain became heavier the pages of his pre-written speech stuck together and he paused, evidently unsure of what to say next. It was at this moment that those attending the vigil spoke up again, heckling Lammy for a third time.
The Deputy Prime Minister attempted again to push on, but was interrupted by community leader Mr Adlestone, who appealed to the crowd to let Lammy continue. After his speech, and as Lammy walked away from the podium, he was again booed and jeered.
Broadcaster Sky News spoke to some of the hecklers after the event finished to get their view. One told them, in reference to the UK recognising a Palestinian state: “This is a direct result of a government rewarding terrorism… The government are complicit in this – if you reward terrorism, you get terrorism”. A second is reported to have said: “What Mr Lammy and Mr Keir Starmer have done is rewarded terrorism. We demand action. We just want action now, not words. The government have to stop giving us empty words.”
The remarkable outbursts at the Manchester Synagogue attack vigil recall a similar display in 2024, when the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, visited Southport the day after a mass stabbing attack against children by a Rwandan-heritage male. Starmer was only present for a matter of seconds before turning-heel to return to his official car, but was followed by shouts of “How many more children are going to die on our streets Prime Minister?… How many more children Prime Minister? Are you going to do something?”.
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