London students urges to scrap October 7 pro-Palestine march as Lucy Powell becomes latest to weigh in

Education Secretary Lucy Powell has become the latest public figure to weigh in on the University of London Coalition’s plans to protest.

But by the police’s own admission, it has been unable to identify and directly contact the organisers behind the planned protest.

In a statement on Friday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman called on the group to move the march as many Londoners would be marking “a day of mourning” to remember those who lost their lives three years ago in Israel.

He urged protesters to “reflect on the impact and distress [a protest] will cause on this very significant day” and to “exercise your right to protest on a different date.”

The force had also written to several London universities asking for their assistance in having the march moved.

As reported by the Times, Lucy Powell has now also implored students to move the date of the march.

People take part in last year’s pro-Palestine march organised by Al Quds group in central London (Jonathan Brady/PA)

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Lucy Powell on the last day of the Labour Party Conference

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She said Jewish communities should be able to remember those who lost their lives “free from intimidation, harassment, or abuse”.

“All Jewish students should feel safe on campus. While the right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and everyone is entitled to their political views, it must be exercised lawfully,” she said.

“I urge anyone planning to protest on campus to show compassion and respect for others by moving it from the anniversary of this tragic day.”

Senior figures, including Lord Blunkett, Lord Johnson of Marylebone, Baroness Morgan, and Sir Michael Gove had called on the Education Secretary to intervene and stop the protest from taking place in a letter shared with the same publication.

Lord Blunkett has called on Ms Powell to intervene

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The letter also called on Ms Powell to escalate the issue to the Home Secretary and to use government powers to tackle serious disruption under public order laws.

As it stands, the police do not have the power to ban marches or to refuse permission for protests, but the force can seek a ban from the Home Secretary.

The threshold to ban marches in circumstances where there is a serious risk of disorder is a high one.

The group - comprising an estimated 300 university students - is expected to march through central London from King’s College to University College London on Wednesday.

Protests took to the streets in the Nakba Day march earlier this year

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It comes just a week after a charity reported that anti-semitic incidents at UK universities are on the rise.

The Community Security Trust (CST) said it had recorded 95 university-related incidents in the 2025-2026 year, an increase on 83 the year before.

The figure has fallen since its peak in the year after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 2023, but remains “substantially higher” than before that point.

At the time, Ms Powell said the findings were “deeply troubling” and said the government expected universities to take “a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism”.

She added that training is being provided to universities to help identify antisemitism and to respond to incidents “swiftly”.