RISHI SUNAK'S declaration that democracy was under threat from “extremists” was trashed on Saturday as tens of thousands of peaceful protesters took to the streets demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Prime Minister’s thinly veiled attack on Palestine supporters who have been mobilising peacefully every week for five months, was condemned by the Stop the War Coalition.

A statement from the campaign group said: “Rishi Sunak should recognise that our protests are not extremism but represent majority views in this country — unlike the politicians who are supporting Israel’s war on Gaza.

“We will continue to march. And if Sunak cares about democracy he should call an election. Let’s see how much support his repressive views have.”

Luca Salice, co-chair of the Camden Palestine Solidarity Campaign, dismissed the Prime Minister’s rhetoric as “an election ploy.”

She said: “Rishi Sunak is losing an election. He is scrambling.

“I don’t think our protests are extremist. I don’t see how being in favour of human lives is extremist.”

Paul Woof, from Dulwich, who carried a sign reading: “Do I look like an extremist?” called on politicians to witness the protests first hand.

He said: “These people ought to go on a march and see the sort of people who are on these marches, a lot of whom are Jewish.

“It’s astonishing the rhetoric. They know it isn’t true. They are talking to their grassroots faithful to try and stir up division in this country.”

In Manchester a dozen organisations have formed the Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine.

They marched on Saturday carrying bags of flour — a symbol of the attack by Israeli Defence Forces on Palestinians removing food from an aid lorry.

The group’s John Nicholson said: “We can never turn our back now on Palestine.

“It defies belief the amount of horror Israel is allowed to mete out — even on the Palestinians starving to death in the north of Gaza after five horrifying months.

“While the genocide takes place in Gaza, Israel has increased its restrictions in the West Bank. As the occupation worsens, the ethnic cleansing increases.”
 
In London, PSC targeted Barclays branches in Croydon, Hammersmith, Haringey, Harrow, Newham, Redbridge, Southwark, Streatham, Tower Hamlets, Willesden, and Wimbledon.