Rishi Sunak has blasted UK supporters of Houthi extremists after thousands marched in London 10 days ago endorsing the shipping attacks.
Up to 200,000 descended on the capital the weekend before last, with chants of “Yemen, Yemen make us proud, turn another ship around”.
Multiple people were arrested by the Met Police on suspicion of showing support for a proscribed organisation.
Speaking in the Commons this lunchtime, the Prime Minister slammed those who are “doing the Houthis’ work for them”.
He emphasised that there is “no link between our actions of self-defence in the Red Sea and the situation in Israel and Gaza”.
He said: “Those who make that link, do the Houthis work for them. And I want to be clear that those here at home who glorify the Hutus attacks are glorifying terrorism, plain and simple.”
He ominously warned: They will be met with a zero-tolerance approach.”
Sir Keir Starmer also rejected arguments that the Houthi attacks are somehow in aid of Gaza, and confirmed Labour’s ongoing support for the UK-US targeted strikes.
He also demanded to know whether the Government is considering proscribing the extremist Islamic Revolutionary Gard Corps (IRGC), the Iranian Armed Forces branch.
Sir Keir warned that the Government must use “every tool at our disposal to disrupt IRGC activities; and we must show Iran that it cannot pursue its ends by destabilising the entire region”.
He blasted Houthi claims they were trying to help Gaza with the shipping disruption: “These attacks do absolutely nothing for the Palestinian people”.
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