Jewish MP barred from visiting school because it would ‘upset the teachers’

“No other community in this country has to live like this, and our Jewish community should not have to either.”

By World Israel News Staff

A senior British Cabinet minister has disclosed that a Jewish member of Parliament was barred from visiting a primary school in his own constituency over concerns that his presence could upset teachers.

The disclosure was made by Communities Secretary Steve Reed during the annual conference of the Jewish Labour Movement on Sunday, and was later reported by The Jewish Chronicle.

Reed said the unnamed lawmaker, whom he described as a Jewish colleague and who is believed to be a sitting MP, was denied permission to conduct a routine visit after school officials warned that his attendance could inflame tensions among staff.

“I have a Jewish colleague who was banned from visiting a school, they refused to allow him to visit a school in his own constituency, in case his presence upset the teachers. It is an absolute scandal that something like this could even happen,” Reed said.

The minister framed the incident as part of a much broader pattern, arguing that antisemitism has created abnormal and unacceptable conditions for Jewish life in Britain that have gradually become normalized.

“It is not normal for Jewish schools to be surrounded by barbed wire. It is not normal for Jewish community centers to require guards, bag searches, and security barriers. It is not normal for communities to be advised to disperse quickly after synagogue prayers. No other community in this country has to live like this, and our Jewish community should not have to either,” Reed said.

He warned that policymakers and the public alike have failed to fully grasp the scope of the threat, stressing the need for decisive action to reverse the trend.

“We are not sufficiently aware of some of these threats, and we need to take action to stop them and clamp them down, and ensure that they have no place in our country,” he said.

Reed also cautioned that the erosion of boundaries has historical implications, pointing to reports that some commercial entities are now reluctant to work with Jewish publications.

“That is starting to sound like Germany in the 1930s, not Britain in the 2020s,” he said, adding that without consistent enforcement and legislative change where necessary, the state risks legitimizing extremist behavior.

He concluded by criticizing local authorities for allowing international political disputes to influence local governance, emphasizing that councils should focus on serving residents rather than engaging in foreign policy debates.

“Councils don’t have a foreign policy. They need to be focused on local residents and not dragged into international political conflicts.”

British MPJewish Labour MovementSteve ReedUK antisemitism