Keir Starmer has promised to proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guards by introducing legislation in the next session of parliament in July.
On a trip to Kenton united synagogue in north-west London on Thursday, the prime minister said he wanted “to make Britain a country where our Jewish community feels safe”.
The synagogue in Harrow was subject to an arson attack on Saturday night, which caused minor smoke damage but no injuries, according to the Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism. A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, pleaded guilty at Westminster magistrates court to arson not endangering life on Tuesday.
In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, Starmer said he was very worried about the increasing use of proxy agents by the Iranian regime. He said legislation to enable the proscription of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), which Labour pledged to achieve in opposition, would be brought forward in “a few weeks” for the start of the parliamentary session in July.
Asked about the prospect of proscribing the group, he said: “In relation to malign state actors more generally, proscription, we do need legislation in order to take necessary measures, and that is legislation that we’re bringing forward as soon as we can. We go into a new session in a few weeks’ time, and we’ll bring that legislation forward.”
An Iran-linked group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, claimed responsibility for the Kenton attack.
Responding to figures this week that show the number of British Jews emigrating to Israel is at a 40-year high, Starmer said: “I want to make Britain a country where our Jewish community feels safe, as they have done for a very long time, and into the future. I’m determined to do that. That means making clear that we stand alongside our Jewish community.”
Starmer said he wanted the whole country see the fight against antisemitism “as a fight for all of us, it’s a fight for Britain, a fight for the Britain we love”.
The Guardian understands that the government will introduce legislation to give proscription-like powers to address “state-sponsored” groups like the IRGC in the next king’s speech.
The EU listed the IRGC as a terrorist organisation in January, ending years of division over the issue in response to the regime’s brutal repression of protesters. At the time, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the paramilitary organisation’s role in suppressing demonstrations meant action was needed. “Repression cannot go unanswered,” she said.
Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, welcomed the decision to proscribe the IRGC. “This is something the Board of Deputies and communal partners have long called for, and these calls have intensified over recent weeks,” he said.
In 2023, the UK rejected calls to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist group in favour of a new sanctions regime, which allowed ministers to sanction individuals for their activities inside the UK, and not just in Iran.
Community leaders have warned that British Jews feel under siege and worry about their children displaying religious symbols in public after a series of arson attacks at Jewish sites. Two synagogues in London and one at a building used by the charity Jewish Futures have been targeted, while four Jewish community ambulances were set on fire in north London in the early hours of 23 March.
Antisemitic incidents in the UK have increased significantly since the 7 October attacks and Israel’s war in Gaza, according to research by the Community Security Trust, which provides security and support to Jewish communities in the UK. It identified 3,700 incidents in 2025.
