In his speech to parliament on Tuesday, King Charles declared that Britain was ‘committed’ to tackling anti-Semitism. His remarks were made amid a surge in acts of such bigotry on British streets, the majority occurring in London.

On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police announced that they had arrested 98 people on suspicion of anti-Semitic hate crimes since Hamas’s slaughter of more than 1,000 Israeli civilians on 7 October. The Met recorded 408 alleged anti-Semitic offences in October, an increase of 380 on the same period in 2022.

It will take courage and determination to dispel this darkness, from politicians, the police and the general public

Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jew, expressed her concern about the deteriorating situation. She said: ‘We deserve to feel secure on the streets of our country…[but] cannot be confident of the safety of Jewish children in schools, students on campus and anyone else who can be easily identified as Jewish.’

Last month at least three Jewish schools closed in London for a short period because of ‘the risk of violence on the streets’. Meanwhile, University College London has recently been accused of ‘an appalling torrent of anti-Semitism’, including alleged glorification of the Hamas atrocity.

The persecution of Jews in Britain is also being witnessed in France. More than 500 people have been arrested since 7 October for anti-Semitic acts and 1,159 such incidents have been recorded. The latest high-profile case was the arrest on Wednesday of a teenager in Paris after he assaulted a rabbi in a metro station.

In response to what the French Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, has described as an ‘explosion’ of anti-Semitism, a march has been organised in Paris on Sunday. It will be attended by MPs from all the main political parties, except the far-left La France Insoumise, who have described Hamas as a ‘resistance movement’. President Emmanuel Macron has yet to confirm if he will be present but two his predecessors – Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande – will be marching.

The march is being organised by Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly, and Gérard Larcher, who fulfils a similar role in the Senate. In announcing the event, the pair said that it was a march ‘for the France of human rights and for the nation as a whole. A citizens’ march to denounce the hate-mongers’. Everyone is welcome, they added, provided they ‘recognise themselves in the values of our Republic and are determined to defend them’.

When will a similar march be held in London? When will Britain’s ‘hate-mongers’ be challenged? In the eyes of many British bien pensants, the likes of Gary Lineker, there is no hate on British streets. ‘Marching and calling for a ceasefire and peace so that more innocent children don’t get killed is not really the definition of a hate march,’ said Lineker last week in retort to Suella Braverman’s description of the pro-Palestine marches through London for the last month.

During last Saturday’s march in the capital, police made 29 arrests for offences ranging from assaulting an officer to racially motivated crimes. Instead of criticising these bigots and hate-mongers, the mayor of London. Sadiq Khan, has this week turned his fire on Braverman.

He accused the Home Secretary of using rhetoric that is ‘irresponsible, stokes divisions, [is] in danger of dividing communities, reinforces stereotypes and makes sweeping generalisations’. Khan was specifically referencing Braverman’s claim that the Metropolitan police were more lenient with the pro-Palestine protestors than they been with other demonstrators in recent years.

Surely Sadiq Khan is the figurehead who can bring the divided communities together? He could organise a rally through central London, similar to the one that will take place in Paris on Sunday, which will feature rabbis walking shoulder to shoulder with imams. According to Khan, it is not just anti-Semitism that is on the rise, but there has also been ‘an increase in Islamophobia’.

There was a small rally in Trafalgar square last month, but it was more a vigil for the hundreds of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. One of the very few prominent figures who attended was Michael Gove, the Communities Secretary, who amid a heavy police presence told the crowd that ‘Britain stands with Israel’.

But does Britain stand up for its Jews? One Sunday newspaper last week carried an interview with a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor, a man who as a child had fled to Britain to escape the Nazis. He was too frightened to give his name but he said he lived in fear for his family’s safety. ‘I never thought I would see this darkness return,’ he lamented.

It will take courage and determination to dispel this darkness, from politicians, the police and the general public. A solidarity march in the style of the French rally would be a good start. But does anyone dare?