Foreign supporters of Hamas face being stripped of their visas and booted out of Britain

• Immigration minister Robert Jenrick wrote to every chief contstable in the UK
• Foreign nationals who commit anti-Semitic acts or back Hamas could lose visa 

Foreign nationals who commit anti-Semitic acts or back Hamas face being stripped of their visas and kicked out of Britain, it emerged last night.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick wrote to every chief constable in the country asking them to inform the Home Office about individuals whose behaviour means their presence here may not be ‘conducive to the public good’.

It could include behaviour at demonstrations or online, it is understood. Foreign nationals who have temporary permission to stay in Britain – potentially including those who came here through the asylum system – risk having their visas revoked.

Behaviour which could lead to them being referred to the Home Office includes chanting the slogan ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, sources said. 

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has condemned the slogan as a ‘staple of anti-Semitic discourse’ and a ‘demand for the destruction of Israel’.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick (pictured) wrote to every chief constable in the country

In his letter to police chiefs, Mr Jenrick said: ‘We encourage your forces to use the existing referral mechanisms when they encounter such cases involving visas and immigration issues.

‘The Home Office will not hesitate to enforce the law and revoke the visas of such individuals where their presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good.’ 

Some individuals already arrested at pro-Palestinian demonstrations are in the UK on ‘temporary leave’ visas, the minister said.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Jenrick added: ‘Be in no doubt that we will revoke visas as required.’ Ministers’ powers to exclude foreign nationals on public interest grounds have a lower threshold than the criminal law.

The Met Police is today bracing itself for an even larger rally than last weekend’s, which saw tens of thousands descend on the capital, with nine officers injured and 15 arrests made.

A spokesman for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said 200,000 people were expected to march today in what is likely to be the biggest rally for Palestinian rights in British history. 

Police chiefs said there would be ‘zero tolerance’ for hate crimes and shows of support for Hamas and other proscribed organisations – but pro-Palestine chanting would be permitted.

Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan said people chanting the ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ slogan would not be committing an offence.

Minister of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick speaking during a vigil outside Downing Street, central London, for victims and hostages of Hamas attacks

He added: ‘While we can see scenarios where chanting these words would be unlawful, such as outside a synagogue or a Jewish school, it is likely that its use in a wider protest setting would not be an offence and would not result in arrest.’ 

It came as police revealed the Hamas massacre has sparked a shocking 1,353 per cent increase in anti-Semitic offences in London. 

The murder of 1,400 Israelis on October 7 ignited a significant spike in hate crime across Britain, with 218 anti-Semitic offences reported in London between October 1 and 18. Islamophobic offences during the same period are up 140 per cent, from 42 last year to 101.

Scotland Yard has arrested 21 people over hate crimes linked to the conflict. More than 1,000 officers will police today’s march in central London, and representatives from both Jewish and Muslim communities have been invited into the Met’s control room to advise senior officers. A barrier has been erected around the Israeli embassy in Kensington.

Downing Street urged pro-Palestine campaigners to ‘consider the fear and distress’ felt by Jewish communities.

Commander Dominic Murphy, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said police remained conscious that conflict overseas could ‘inspire events in the UK’.

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