Yesterday, 24 March, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced the offer of four replacement ambulances to Hatzolah, the Jewish-run charity ambulance service which suffered an arson attack on the morning of 23 March.
Since the attack, politicians across the political spectrum have voiced their condemnation of antisemitism. Predictably, some have also taken the opportunity to attack Muslims and migrants — without evidence that the attackers were either.
In Streeting’s case, both his words and his offer of tangible support are a clear demonstration of the energy we need when tackling bigotry in the UK. The problem is, this only makes his careless attitude to Islamophobia in his own NHS all the more egregious when we contrast the two.
Streeting — ‘Despicable act of evil’
In his statement, Streeting was unequivocal in his condemnation of antisemitism:
This shocking, cowardly, and despicable act of evil was not only an attack on London’s Jewish community, but on an ambulance service whose sole purpose is to save lives and care for others.
There is no doubt this attack was designed to strike fear into the heart of Jewish people in Golders Green and across the country. And, as a Member of Parliament who represents a significant Jewish community further east in London, I know what’s happened will be felt painfully and acutely by all Jewish people across our country.
Likewise, he also went on to praise Hatzolah, and offered his practical support:
Hatzola’s volunteers represent the very best of public service, providing rapid, life-saving care to anyone in need, and it is appalling that such a service has been targeted in this way.
Of course, the best form of solidarity is practical solidarity, which is why today, our London Ambulance Service colleagues are providing support to the team in Golders Green to make sure that we don’t skip a beat when it comes to responding to emergency call-outs. We will also be providing four replacement ambulances, initially on loan until we can provide permanent replacements. The Jewish community should not bear the cost of this hatred.
This moment demands more than practical support. The Jewish community will not stand alone – the government and this entire country stand with them.
We’re not going to argue with any of this. It’s the exact kind of response we should expect in the face of rising antisemitism in the UK. The problem is that, for Streeting and much of the Labour Party, that attitude clearly doesn’t extend to all forms of racism.
Streeting’s ‘Lack of urgency and movement’
As a case in point, late last year the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) wrote a letter to Streeting and other senior figures in UK healthcare. The missive urged action against a pattern of Islamophobic attacks on Muslim staff and patients in the NHS.
On 4 December, BIMA president Dr. Sahira Dar wrote a letter to Streeting which stated:
I am writing to express our growing concern that we have still not received a response to our previous correspondence on 20th October 2025 or our meeting on 9th September regarding the safety, fair treatment and freedom of expression of Muslim healthcare workers. This lack of urgency and movement is increasingly difficult to reconcile with, especially in light of a serious Islamophobic incident reported at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, where a copy of the Qur’an was desecrated on NHS premises.
In another letter, BIMA reminded Streeting that:
The NHS constitution commits the service and its leaders to uphold respect, dignity, inclusion and safety for all staff. Ensuring that Muslim workers and patients can engage with the NHS without fear, while trusting that discriminatory behaviour will be taken seriously and responded to transparently is fundamental to these values.
It also reiterated the organisation’s desire to meet with the health secretary to continue their discussions. Likewise, it expressed its extreme disappointment with the lack of communication from Streeting over the months.
‘Embarking on wholesale repression’
At the time, I wrote that this apparent lack of concern for Islamophobia is particularly galling, given that Labour recently launched an investigation into racism in the NHS which appears to privilege antisemitism over other forms of racism.
The government outlined these plans in a press release issued in October. Egregiously, the proposals introduce a blanket ban on expressions or symbols of solidarity with Palestinians.
The plan also advises the NHS to adopt the definition of antisemitism used by theInternational Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The organisation places Israel beyond reproach, and frequently conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism.
In reaction, a coalition of 23 groups — including trade unions and Jewish organisations — undersigned a joint statement penned by Doctors in Unite (DiU) criticising the proposals.
Dr Coral Jones, chair of Doctors in Unite, said:
The government is embarking on wholesale repression within the NHS to try to silence health workers from speaking out against the bombing of hospitals and the detention, torture, and killing of our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza.
They accused Labour of elevating antisemitism above other forms of racism, and pointed to the Forde Report of 2022, which highlighted the hierarchy of racism within the Labour Party.
Streeting’s reaction to the attack on Hatzolah clearly demonstrates that he knows what a useful and constructive reaction to discrimination looks like. However, as the letters from BIMA and DiU show, the health secretary doesn’t extend that same care to all.
Labour published the final version of the Forde Report in 2022. However, it remains depressingly obvious that the hierarchy of racism is still deeply entrenched within the PLP.
Featured image via the Canary
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