The home secretary has apologised after a baby’s birth certificate which had been sent off for a passport application was defaced to remove a reference to Israel.
James Cleverly said an investigation was under way after the father’s birth place was apparently scribbled out when the document was returned.
“We apologise to the family for the offence caused and I have ordered an urgent review of a birth certificate being defaced,” said Mr Cleverly on X.
“While we establish the facts, our commercial partner has suspended some staff. The matter is totally unacceptable. We will not tolerate antisemitism.”
Israel, the father of five-month-old Ronnie, who has lived in the UK for several years but was born in Israel, told Sky News on Tuesday that his daughter did nothing wrong and being Jewish in the UK is “very hard”.
He said he would complain to police and that the person who did it should be sacked.
“I don’t think my five-month-old baby did anything wrong to anybody… I felt horrendous when I saw it for the first time,” said Israel.
“It took me a few more times to look at that and understand what’s going on.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it happened when the birth certificate was sent off to get a passport for the child.
The group urged the Home Office to investigate and said it had “responsibility for law enforcement and the security of the Jewish community”.
Referencing a rise in antisemitism, father-of-three Israel told Sky News: “The situation here is not good.
“To be Jewish in the UK is very hard. And it’s not getting better, it’s getting worse and worse.
“I think my daughter, in 20 years, that’s her future, because London is not London anymore, and I literally feel unsafe.”
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Policing minister Chris Philp updated MPs this week about the rise in antisemitic incidents.
He referenced figures by the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity providing security to Jewish schools and institutions, which revealed more than 4,000 incidents were recorded in the UK in 2023.