Government announces extra £25m to protect Jewish communities
Morning. The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said she understands the fears faced by the Jewish community in the UK as the government announced extra funding to boost police patrols and protections around synagogues, schools and community centres.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, she was pressed on comments made by the chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, that people in the UK who are visibly Jewish are no longer safe, after two Jewish men were stabbed in an attack in Golders Green in north-west London.
“I, of course, can understand why people who are both visibly and not visibly Jewish are feeling a huge amount of pressure and fear at the moment,” Mahmood said.
She continued: “The question for me is, what am I going to do to ensure that people are able to go about their business safely, just like their fellow citizens, and that they also feel safe as well?
A police officer and members of the Jewish community in Golders Green where two people were stabbed, and a suspect arrested. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
“And that is the action that I am taking, practical action, in order to put in the enhanced policing, the higher spending on security so that people can go about their business.”
She said the government will invest a further £25m to increase security for Jewish communities, and that it will also fast-track new legislation in order to tackle state threats.
The victims who were stabbed in the attack yesterday, which has been declared a terrorist incident by police, have been named locally as Nachman Moshe ben Chaya Sarah and Moshe Ben Baila, who are in hospital in a stable condition.
The Metropolitan police said a 45-year-old man, a British national born in Somalia, is in custody after being Tasered by police and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Mahmoud told BBC Breakfast that he came to the UK lawfully as a child. The Met commissioner, Mark Rowley, said the suspect has a history of mental health issues, drug use and convictions for violence.
The stabbings follow a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets in London since March, including two previous incidents in Golders Green.
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John Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, said British Jews are at “breaking point” and feel they can no longer live safely in the UK.
“Don’t forget, everyone in the Jewish community is fleeing from somewhere,” the Labour peer told Sky News.
“Jewish people in this country have always had to flee from somewhere to get here.
A member of the local community walks past the scene where a man was stabbed in the Golders Green neighbourhood of north London. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
The home secretary said that while protecting the Jewish community was a priority, she rejected the characterisation by Jonathan Hall, the UK’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, that attacks on Jewish people was a “national emergency”.
“I think the phrase ‘national emergency’ has particular connotations,” Shabana Mahmood told BBC Breakfast.
“It means that for a period, you change your democracy, and you disapply some elements of our democratic society. I don’t believe this is where we are today.
“But for me this is an absolutely pressing priority. It is an emergency for me as home secretary to respond to.”
Several of the UK’s leading imams have come together to “utterly condemn” the Golders Green attack.
The leaders, including the chief Iman of Scotland, Sayed Razawi, alongside Jewish leaders signed the Drumlanrig Accords last year, which aims to strengthen Jewish-Muslim relationships in the UK.
In a statement, they said:
double quotation markWe note with grave concern the violent attack on two Jewish men in Golders Green, London. We extend our thoughts and solidarity to those injured, their families and the wider Jewish community.
Any act of violence or intimidation directed at individuals because of their faith or identity is utterly unacceptable. Incidents which create fear within communities, particularly near places of worship or religious gathering, undermine the safety and cohesion of our shared society.
As Muslim leaders and signatories to the Drumlanrig Accords, we stand firmly against antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of hatred and extremism.
We reaffirm our shared commitment to protecting the dignity, safety and religious freedom of every community.
It is important that communities respond with unity, responsibility, and a shared commitment to mutual respect and social cohesion.
The Press Association has reported that the police cordon surrounding the scene of the stabbings in Golders Green has been lifted.
Parts of Highfield Avenue, Beverley Gardens and Golders Green Road in north-west London had been sealed off following the attack yesterday, but the roads were opened again by 7am this morning.
An Orthodox Jew walks towards the bus stop where a man was attacked in Golders Green what has been declared as a terrorist incident by police. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 03.39 EDT
Jonathan Hall, the UK’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said attacks on Jewish people have become “the biggest national security emergency” since 2017.
“There are Brits in London in particular, Manchester, but probably all around the country, who are now thinking they cannot live a normal life. And it’s not one attack, it’s multiple attacks,” he told the BBC.
He also called for a “moratorium” on pro-Palestinian marches, telling Times Radio it was currently “impossible” for such demonstrations not to “incubate” antisemitism.
ShareGovernment announces extra £25m to protect Jewish communities
Morning. The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said she understands the fears faced by the Jewish community in the UK as the government announced extra funding to boost police patrols and protections around synagogues, schools and community centres.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, she was pressed on comments made by the chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, that people in the UK who are visibly Jewish are no longer safe, after two Jewish men were stabbed in an attack in Golders Green in north-west London.
“I, of course, can understand why people who are both visibly and not visibly Jewish are feeling a huge amount of pressure and fear at the moment,” Mahmood said.
She continued: “The question for me is, what am I going to do to ensure that people are able to go about their business safely, just like their fellow citizens, and that they also feel safe as well?
A police officer and members of the Jewish community in Golders Green where two people were stabbed, and a suspect arrested. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
“And that is the action that I am taking, practical action, in order to put in the enhanced policing, the higher spending on security so that people can go about their business.”
She said the government will invest a further £25m to increase security for Jewish communities, and that it will also fast-track new legislation in order to tackle state threats.
The victims who were stabbed in the attack yesterday, which has been declared a terrorist incident by police, have been named locally as Nachman Moshe ben Chaya Sarah and Moshe Ben Baila, who are in hospital in a stable condition.
The Metropolitan police said a 45-year-old man, a British national born in Somalia, is in custody after being Tasered by police and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Mahmoud told BBC Breakfast that he came to the UK lawfully as a child. The Met commissioner, Mark Rowley, said the suspect has a history of mental health issues, drug use and convictions for violence.
The stabbings follow a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets in London since March, including two previous incidents in Golders Green.