Sussex Police have said they will not open an investigation into activists going door-to-door in Brighton asking people to stop buying Israeli goods.
Brighton MP and cabinet minister Peter Kyle had called on the police to investigate the group for alleged hate crimes and breaches of incitement laws, saying “it should not be happening”.
But the force said “at this time, there is no evidence of criminal activity”.
A sign appealing for people to boycott Israeli goods
Separately, Labour MP Mark Sewards, who chairs Labour Friends of Israel, has written to Green Party MP Sian Berry condemning the activists’ actions as “dangerous, divisive, and intimidatory”.
He urged her to join him in “publicly condemning these tactics and urging the organisers to immediately call off this nefarious campaign”.
A report by Sky’s communities correspondent Lisa Holland on Wednesday showed that activists are seeking to create what they’re calling an apartheid-free zone in Brighton and Hove.
To do that, they are going door-to-door in Brighton with a list of addresses and asking people to boycott Israeli goods.
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Seymour is one of the campaigners hoping to create an ‘apartheid-free zone’ in Brighton
Door-knocking campaigners told Lisa Holland that they are not antisemitic, but anti-zionist.
Campaigner Seymour was asked if he could understand why people who dispute that view would be uncomfortable if they opened the door to one of his volunteers, and he replied: “It might be uncomfortable.
“But it’s only a one-on-one conversation. We’re very polite [at] the door. Whatever someone’s background is, we treat them like anyone else.
“It’s no different from the actions of a political party like the Conservative Party or the Labour Party who also go door to door and ask people how they feel.”
But in a letter to Ms Berry shared exclusively with Sky News, Mr Sewards hit out at the campaign as “dangerous, divisive and intimidatory – both to the local Jewish community, who have faced appalling levels of antisemitism in the city since the 7 October attacks, and to those of us who are not Jewish but strongly support the world’s only Jewish state”.
Sian Berry has been the Brighton Pavilion MP since 2024. Pic: PA
He cited figures published this week by the Community Security Trust, a Jewish charity, which show that last year saw the second-highest number of antisemitic incidents on record, and Sussex was the police region that recorded the sixth-highest number of antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2025.
“Against this backdrop, it is insensitive, inflammatory and highly irresponsible to seek to further isolate and target our fellow Jewish citizens,” Mr Sewards wrote.
He said British Jews have “repeatedly stated how distressing they have found the behaviour of anti-Israel extremists on our streets”, and following years of protests “now appear determined to intimidate Jews on their own doorsteps”.
“The alleged practice of recording who does – and, more importantly, who doesn’t – support the campaigners’ demands simply compounds the sinister nature of this entire exercise,” he said.
The Labour MP added that the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement “does nothing to advance the cause of peace, coexistence and a two-state solution”.
“At a time when Jews around the world need our solidarity and support, I hope that you will join me in publicly condemning these tactics and urging the organisers to immediately call off this nefarious campaign,” he wrote to the Brighton Pavilion MP.
Read the full letter
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Ms Berry told Sky News she is taking concerns raised about the door-to-door visits “seriously”.
She said: “I can fully appreciate why some residents might find this tactic confrontational or worrying and something to rethink, even though I believe those running the campaign are well intentioned, and were not intending to alarm any Jewish residents specifically with this choice of engagement activity.
“It is important to maintain the freedom for people who are concerned about global issues and who want to reach out to fellow citizens to do so proportionately.”
Ms Berry added: “Seeking to raise awareness of the horrific recent actions against Palestinians in Gaza of the current government in Israel, and the wide international recognition of these as war crimes, is legitimate, and can extend to boycott campaigning.
“I do worry that no visible community campaigning at all on this issue would be acceptable to some supporters of that government.”
