The mural in Hanbury Street is not on council property but we are responding to a number of complaints about it. We are working with the police in order to establish how best to proceed.

The Revd. Preb. Alan Green, Area Dean of Tower Hamlets and Rector of St John on Bethnal Green, who serves as Chair of the No Place For Hate Forum, said: “Whilst I appreciate street art in Tower Hamlets, it must always respect the principles of our diverse community. This mural uses images that have for centuries been used to incite hatred and persecution against Jewish communities. There is no place for such incitement against any community in this borough”.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman added: “I have received a number of complaints that the ‘New World Order’ mural on Hanbury Street has anti-Semitic images. I share these concerns. Whether intentional or otherwise the images of the bankers perpetuate anti-Semitic propaganda about conspiratorial Jewish domination of financial and political institutions. I am of the view that, where freedom of expression runs the risk of inciting racial hatred, as for example when the EDL attempted to march in Tower Hamlets last year, then it is right that such expression should be curtailed. I have, therefore, asked my officers to do everything possible to see to it that this mural is removed”.