ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY

See section on anti-terrorism and national security for more information on the Golders Green attack

30 April: In the wake of an antisemitic knife attack in Golders Green, treated as a terrorist incident, Downing Street says new powers are needed to protect the Jewish community. A further £25 million is pledged for security, while new powers to shut down charities that promote antisemitic extremism and legislation creating proscription-like powers to pursue people and organisations acting on behalf of malign-state sponsored groups are floated. (Guardian, 30 April 2026)

30 April: Speaking in Golders Green, the prime minister calls on the public ‘to open their eyes to Jewish pain’, accusing anyone marching alongside supporters of Hamas of ‘venerating the murder of Jews’. (Guardian, 30 April 2026)

30 April: The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall, calls for a ‘moratorium’ on pro-Palestine marches saying is ‘clearly impossible at the moment for any of these pro-Palestine marches not to incubate within them some sort of antisemitic or demonising language’. (Middle East Eye, 30 April 2026).

2 May: After the prime minister, interviewed by Radio 4, says he would consider banning pro-Palestinian marches in some circumstances, campaigners say that his proposals ‘strike at the root of free assembly and free speech’ in the UK. (Guardian, 2 May 2026)

2 May: Conservative leader Kem Badenoch calls for all pro-Palestine marches to be banned, claiming ‘they are used as a cover for promoting violence and intimidation against Jews’. (Guardian, 2 May 2026)

3 May: Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says Green party leader Zack Polanski is not ‘fit to lead a political party’ after Polanski retweeted, without comment, a post alleging police used excessive force on a mentally ill man during the arrest of the suspect in the Golders Green attack. Polanski had already apologised following criticism from the head of the Met. (Guardian, 3 May 2026)

3 May: Golders Green MP Sarah Sackman (also courts and legal services minister) decries a ‘lack of vocal solidarity’ towards the Jewish community from the liberal left, including some anti-racist organisations, and calls on the ‘moderate majority’ to wake up in the fight against antisemitism. (Guardian, 3 May 2026) 

4 May: Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf says the party will build immigration detention centres in Green-voting areas because of the Greens’ ‘open borders’ policy and would not build them in Reform MPs’ constituencies or Reform-controlled council areas. (BBC News, 4 May 2026)

5 May: The former leader of the Green party, Caroline Lucas, calls on the party to take immediate action against candidates who have made antisemitic comments or posts following a series of cases before local elections. (Guardian, 5 May 2026)

5 May: Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch, speaking on the Today programme, defends her arguments that pro-Palestine marches should be banned for spreading hate but that marches organised by Tommy Robinson that spread anti-Muslim feeling should be allowed as the two marches are very different, and ‘criticism of religion is allowed in this country’. (Guardian, 5 May 2026)

5 May: Multiple complaints are lodged with the Election Commission for possible undue influence under the Representation of the People’s Act after Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson says that the party would situate deportation centres in areas which vote in large numbers for the Green Party. (Byline Times, May 2026)

6 May: On eve of local elections, Reform-led Lancashire county council announces plans to withdraw from central government’s refugee settlement scheme. (Guardian, 6 May 2026)

7 May: Green party leader Zack Polanski criticises the Times for publishing a ‘vile antisemitic caricature’ depicting him with a hooked nose. The Board of Deputies of British Jews states on X that a number of examples of political cartoons of the Green party leader are a ‘cause for concern’, warning editors against wading into ‘centuries old anti-Jewish tropes’. (Novara Media, 7 May 2026)

“Zack faces daily antisemitism, and in the past six weeks two people have been arrested for antisemitic actions towards him.”https://t.co/0WraIvwJYB

— Novara Media (@novaramedia) May 13, 2026

9 May: Following local elections on 136 councils, in London, northern metropolitan districts, county councils and unitary authorities, anti-immigration Reform UK emerge with most councillors (+1,372, total, 1,454) and gains control of 14 new councils (Barnsley, Calderdale, Essex, Gateshead, Havering, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Sandwell, South Tyneside, St Helens, Suffolk, Sunderland, Thurrock, Wakefield, Walsall), seven based in West Yorkshire. (Guardian, 9 May 2026)

10 May: The organisers of the Standing Strong: Extinguish Antisemitism rally outside Downing Street defend its decision to invite Reform UK’s Richard Tice to speak and not Green party leader, Zack Polanski. Ahead of the rally, more than 2,000 signatories called on the organisers to withdraw an invitation to Nigel Farage and ensure the event would reflect values of ‘inclusion and solidarity’. (Guardian, 10 May 2026)

11 May: A dozen of Reform UK’s new councillors have in the past expressed white supremacist, antisemitic or anti-Muslim views, alleges Hope Not Hate. Newly elected Sunderland Reform councillor Glen Gibbens, reported to have said Nigerians should be melted down to ‘fill in the pot holes’, is apparently under investigation, although the deputy leader declines to criticise him. (Observer, 10 May 2026; ITV, 11 May 2026)

ANTI-FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT

30 April: A man from Hastings is arrested after a Green party rally on 30 April is disturbed by men who unfurl Reform UK and St George Cross flags, with one agitator responding to the Green party leader, who is Jewish, by giving at least three nazi salutes. Reform UK say the man is not connected to their party. (Independent, 30 April 2026)

1 May: In the Czech Republic, over 1,000 people march through Prague on May Day against fascism. A small group of neo-Nazis, including far-right activist Filip Vávra, attempt to attack an antifascist gathering on Nádražní Street before riot police intervene, detaining at least two people. (Romea, 1 May 2026)

4 May: Shropshire Council says that residents, councillors and council staff have faced rising ‘abuse, harassment and intimidation’ directly linked to the removal of unauthorised flags. (Guardian, 4 May 2026)

7 May: Masked members of a neo-Nazi group calling themselves ‘Peacekeepers’ break into the home of a Roma family in Cegléd, Hungary, throwing a Molotov cocktail into a room where eight children were sleeping and severing part of the father’s finger. Police launch an investigation only for armed trespassing and grievous bodily harm, though the European Roma Rights Centre files a criminal complaint demanding the racist motivation be recognised. The perpetrators remain at large. (ERRC, 7 May 2026)

8 May: An administrative court in Paris, France, upholds a police ban on both a far-right march by the May 9 Committee and a planned anti-fascist counter-protest, citing a ‘tense and highly polarised political context’ and risk of violence. Authorities reference Nazi salutes recorded during the committee’s 2025 march, at which around 1,000 far-right activists, many masked and displaying banned Nazi symbols, took part. (Report, 8 May 2026)

9 May: An anti-immigration demonstration in Blairgowrie in the Perthshire constituency of First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney leads to four arrests for threatening and abusive behaviour, with indications that the family of the First Minister were impacted. (Belfast Telegraph, 9 May 2026)

11 May: Seven far-right extremists, including Joey Mannarino and Valentina Gomez, hoping to attend the Unite the Kingdom event organised by Tommy Robinson on 16 May are blocked by the home secretary from entering the country. (Guardian, 11 May 2026)

ANTI-TERRORISM AND NATIONAL SECURITY 

29 April: Police say the stabbing of two men, aged 76 and 34, in Golders Green, north London, by a man who reportedly hunted for anyone ‘visibly Jewish’, was a terrorist incident and that the suspect arrested had a history of mental illness and violence. (Guardian, 29 April 2026)

30 April: The police reveal that Essa Suleiman, the suspect in the Golders Green attack who has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, was referred to Prevent but cleared of being a terrorist danger in 2020 and had previously been admitted to mental health institutions. (Guardian, 30 April 2026)

30 April: The Met police arrest two Green party candidates in Lambeth, south London, over alleged antisemitic social media posts. (Guardian, 30 April 2026)

30 April: Alfie Coleman, a 21-year-old neo-Nazi from Great Notley, Essex, is convicted of planning a mass gun attack after an undercover MI5 sting caught him purchasing a pistol and ammunition. Coleman had compiled a hate-list of colleagues, identified targets including a mosque and the lord mayor of London, and idolised far-right mass killers. (Guardian, 30 April 2026) 

1 May: As Essa Suleiman appears in court charged with three counts of attempted murder, it emerges that he attacked another man earlier in the day in Southwark. On social media, many question why no media attention is given to this attack, linking it to the fact that the victim was Muslim. (Guardian, 1 May 2026)

5 May: German federal prosecutors launch a nationwide crackdown on organised far-right youth networks, with 600 police officers raiding homes across twelve states and targeting 36 suspects. The targeted groups, whose ideology draws on National Socialism, have repeatedly attacked LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and leftists, particularly around Pride events in Berlin and other cities. (DW, 5 May 2026)

5 May: Counter-terror police investigate whether a fire at a former synagogue in Tower Hamlets, east London, is part of an arson campaign linked to Iran. The synagogue has been disused since 2020 and a Muslim group had recently tried to buy it. (Guardian, 5 May 2026) 

5 May: Lawyer Fahad Ansari, who filed Hamas’s challenge to proscription and is seeking a judicial review, says UK police falsely listed him on a risk assessment form as a member of Hamas after he was stopped and detained at the port of Holyhead on return from a family holiday in Ireland. (Guardian, 5 May 2026)

POLICING| PRISONS| CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

1 May: The organisers of Palestine Solidarity accuse the head of the Metropolitan police of spreading ‘dangerous misinformation’ after he told Good Morning Britain that he was ‘really troubled’ by claims that protest organisers intended to march near synagogues and that the Met had in the past had to impose conditions to prevent marches approaching Jewish places of worship. (Middle East Eye,1 May 2026) 

4 May: The Guardian reports on a live facial recognition pilot in Croydon, in which every face passing the cameras – up to 5,000 an hour – are scanned, resulting in five arrests in 45 minutes, as concerns about the ‘unregulated, invasive, anti-democratic’ technology, rife with racial bias, are waved away. (Guardian, 4 May 2026) 

6 May: Solicitors for the Palestine Coalition make a formal legal complaint to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime about Sir Mark Rowley’s comments in relation to two interviews (The Times and Good Morning Britain) which lawyers argue breach expectations about the conduct of the Commissioner as set out in the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020. (Palestine Solidarity Campaign, 6 May 2026)

6 May: The Met announces a new dedicated Community Protection Team of 100 additional officers, bringing together neighbourhood policing, specialist protection and counter-terrorism capabilities, to protect the Jewish community from antisemitic hate crimes and significant terrorist and hostile state threats. (Metropolitan police, 6 May 2026; London Now, 6 May 2026)

11 May: After it is revealed that Court of Appeal judges are considering contempt of court proceedings against Rajiv Menon KC for his closing speech at the trial of four activists accused of criminal damage at the Elbit Systems factory near Bristol, Garden Court Chambers says that the move is ‘without historical precedent’ and will have a ‘chilling effect’ on the bar. (Garden Court Chambers, 11 May 2026)

(1/2) Garden Court North welcomes the Court of Appeal’s ruling earlier today that the trial judge alleging that @gardencourtlaw‘s Rajiv Menon KC committed contempt lacks jurisdiction to refer him to the High Court for prosecution.https://t.co/f2lXH0216Z

— Garden Court North (@gcnchambers) May 12, 2026

12 May: Palestine Action trial lawyer Rajiv Menon KC wins an appeal against his referral for contempt of court over his closing speech during a trial of Palestine Action activists. (Guardian, 12 May 26)

12 May: As reporting restrictions are lifted, it is revealed that a judges’ ‘terrorism connection ruling’ (not disclosed to jurors) in two trials involving three Palestine Action activists convicted of criminal damage at Elbit Systems means that they could now be sentenced as terrorists despite not being convicted of terrorist charges. (Guardian, 12 May 2026)

ASYLUM | MIGRATION| BORDERS| CITIZENSHIP

Asylum and migrant rights

27 April: 148 organisations working with children, social workers and lawyers write to the prime minister expressing concern that new migration rules represent a ‘sustained attack on children’s rights’, citing in particular proposals for earned settlement which will push families into poverty, and ‘use of force’ plans which would allow physical restraint and handcuffs for children during removal. (Asylum Matters, 27 April 2026)

6 May: Two Sudanese asylum seekers challenge Labour’s plans to cut leave to remain from 5 years to 30 months. (Guardian, 6 May 2026)

Borders and internal controls

2 May: On a beach in Dunkirk, northern France, riot police forcibly pull two children from their mother to prevent her boarding a boat and hold back an Eritrean mother whose three-year-old is already on board, while police stand by as a man coordinates the boarding, pushes the boat off, wades back to shore and walks away. (Times, 3 May 2026) 

3 May: Two Sudanese asylum seekers – a woman in her 20s and a 16-year-old girl – are found dead in a ‘taxi-boat’ carrying 82 passengers, which ran aground on a beach at Neufchâtel-Hardelot, France, as people tried to scramble aboard. Three survivors are in critical condition, with burns caused by engine fuel and salt water, and 14 others have less severe injuries. (Guardian, 3 May 2026)

3 May: Over 70 refugee rights NGOs sign an open letter calling for a public inquiry into how UK money is spent trying to stop the boats, increasing the dangers for passengers. (Guardian, 3 May 2026) 

Deportations

2 May: A Kurdish asylum seeker from Syria, returned to France under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme, is to be deported to Syria, which French authorities deem safe, although it is not on the recently updated EU ‘safe countries’ list. (Guardian, 2 May 2026)

EDUCATION

28 April: Social mobility groups call for a post-16 ‘student premium’ to support disadvantaged young people after GCSEs and prevent them from falling out of education, work and training and into unemployment. (Guardian, 28 April 2026)

12 May: A Black studies master’s course is to close at Birmingham City University less than a year after it launched, despite the vice-chancellor’s commitment to training next generation of Black academics. (THE, 12 May 2026)

HOUSING| POVERTY| WELFARE

20 April: Landmark research into the use of unregulated children’s homes finds that hundreds of children in care – often those with the most complex and acute needs – are now living in unregistered placements that sit entirely outside of Ofsted’s regulatory framework. (Public First, 20 April 2026

22 April: At least 91 babies (64 stillbirths and 27 neonatal deaths) were born to mothers living in temporary accommodation in 2024, while a further 104 children living in temporary accommodation died between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2025. (The Guardian, 22 April 2026)

2 May: Glasgow City Council spent a record £68 million on temporary accommodation for homeless people in 2025, three quarters of whom (over 2,000) were refugees newly recognised following the Conservatives’ freeze on refugee processing, according to responses to FOI requests. (Daily Record, 2 May 2026)

Monday 11 May: 741 people have died in council-provided temporary accommodation in London over the past three years FOI data collected by Groundwork Research has found. (The Morning Star, 11 May 2026)

More than 700 people died in temporary accommodation in London in last three years https://t.co/IHE1jrh97b

— Morning Star (@M_Star_Online) May 11, 2026

11 May: Two-thirds of local authorities surveyed identify housing as a key issue in meeting demand for school places at a time of falling pupil numbers, a new report by the National Audit Office finds. (Inside Housing, 11 May 2026; National Audit Office, 15 April 2026)

11 May: Newham is the first local authority to develop a prototype Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool and appoint a head of AI as a test case for whether AI can help solve its temporary accommodation issue. (East London Times, 11 May 2026)

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

22 April: The government announces a review into the deaths of care leavers, who are more at risk of homelessness and disproportionately die young. (Inside Housing, 22 April 2026)

29 April: A new study finds that stress from racism and deprivation could explain why Black women are more likely to die during childbirth. (Guardian, 29 April 2026)

6 May: New research shows that Black people in England are twice as likely to experience strokes, as compared to their white counterparts, while also being less likely to receive timely care. (Guardian, 6 May 2026)

EMPLOYMENT| EXPLOITATION| INDUSTRIAL ACTION

5 May: A report from the UK’s independent anti-slavery commissioner reveals that referrals of likely victims of trafficking and exploitation have almost doubled from 12,000 in 2021 to 23,400 in 2025, with UK nationals now the biggest victims of labour exploitation – the main form of exploitation according to an evaluation from the Council of Europe’s GRETA. The reports call for more resources, prevention and safeguarding measures. (Guardian, 5 May 2026)

CULTURE| MEDIA| SPORT

While we cannot cover all incidents of racist abuse on sportspersons or their responses, we provide a summary of the most important incidents. For more information follow Kick it Out. 

4 May: Research shows that AI platforms consistently reference Farage and Reform UK more than any other party or leader when asked questions about politics, with Reform appearing in 88 per cent of Google’s AI overviews, compared with Starmer’s 11 percent.  (Guardian, 4 May 2026)

4 May: Eight months after its dissolution by the French prime minister, neo-Nazi hooligan group Strasbourg Offender remains active in person and online. A judicial probe is under way after members unfurled banners honouring a neo-fascist activist killed in a clash with anti-fascists at La Meinau stadium during an RC Strasbourg match in February, prompting a fight with apolitical ultras Ultra Boys 90. (One Football, 4 May 2026)

11 May: The broadcast regulator Ofcom partially upholds a complaint by the Independent Office of Police Conduct regarding unfair treatment on the BBC programme Panorama: the Chris Kaba shooting. (Ofcom, 11 May 2026; BBC News, 11 May 2026)

12 May: An employment tribunal upholds three racial harassment claims against former Crawley Town manager John Yems, who received a three-year FA ban in 2022 for 11 discrimination charges, finding the club vicariously liable for failing to protect midfielder Amrit Bansal-McNulty from derogatory comments. (BBC News, 12 May 2026)

13 May: An open letter defends Southbank Centre chair Misan Harriman from a ‘dishonest smear campaign’ and parliamentarians write  to the culture secretary warning that freedom of speech in public institutions is under threat. After sharing a social media post questioning the amount of media coverage given to the Golders Green attacker’s Muslim victim, media outlets accused Harriman of  promoting conspiracies, also attacking him for  quoting Susan Sontag on the  Holocaust in the context of Reform UK’s local election gains. (Guardian, 13 May 2026)

RACIAL VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT

For details of court judgements on racially motivated and other hate crimes, see also POLICING | PRISONS | CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

7 May: Police are investigating as a religiously aggravated assault an incident where a car was reportedly driven towards three Jewish schoolboys in Finchley, north-west London. (Evening Standard, 7 May 2026)

7 May: The Green party leader reveals that two people have been arrested over the past six weeks in relation to antisemitic actions against him. (Novara Media, 7 May 2026)

7 May: Birmingham independent local election candidate Dr Desmond Jadoo says that he was subjected to racist abuse, a death threat and intimidation during his campaign. (Voice, 7 May 2026)

9 May: Expedited proceedings brought against two men who were arrested filming themselves verbally abusing a Jewish man in Hackney for Tik Tok content means that they are sentenced within two days for a religiously aggravated public order offence. (BBC News, 9 May 2026)

This calendar is researched by IRR staff and compiled by Sophie Chauhan, with the assistance of Graeme Atkinson, Margaret McAdam and Louis Ordish. Thanks also to ECRE, the Never Again Association, Research Against Global Authoritarianism and Stopwatch, whose regular updates on asylum, migration, far Right, racial violence, employment and policing issues are an invaluable source of information. Find these stories and all others since 2014 on our searchable database, the Register of Racism and Resistance.