NHS to Ban All Political Badges, Including Pro-Palestine and Pro-Israel, Under Antisemitism Review

NHS staff in Britain will be barred from wearing political badges, including those supporting Palestinians or Israel, under recommendations released in a review into anti-Semitism on Thursday. The review, published on 4 June 2026, also extends the prohibition to badges backing British political parties and football teams.

John Mann, the UK government’s adviser on anti-Semitism, issued the findings after being tasked by the Labour government to examine anti-Semitism in the NHS following the killing of two people in an attack on a synagogue in Manchester last October.

Mann said in an interview with Sky News. “A badge that says, ‘I support Palestine’, or a badge that says, ‘I support Israel’, I don’t want my dentist to be wearing that when they are about to drill my teeth,” he added. “Get the political politicking out of the NHS, out of the hospital and health environment … that’s sometimes stopping people from using the NHS,” Mann said.

He added: “Jewish people have to be confident they will receive the same treatment as everyone else, at all times in all situations. ” Health Minister James Murray said the government was accepting the “robust and practical” recommendations. “Racism and discrimination betray everything the NHS stands for, and its ability to provide safe, world-class care,” he said.

Al Jazeera reported that British authorities have repeatedly faced criticism for cracking down on pro-Palestine activism during Israel’s war on Gaza. Earlier this year, British police arrested hundreds of people during a mass vigil in central London to oppose the ban on the campaign group Palestine Action.