Terror threat raised to 'severe' meaning further attack 'highly likely'

The terror threat in the UK has been raised to severe meaning another attack is “highly likely”.

The Government announced the upgrade as Londoners and Britain’s Jewish community are reeling from Wednesday’s horrific terror attack on two men in north London .

Sir Keir Starmer called on “everyone decent in this country to open their eyes to Jewish pain, Jewish suffering and Jewish fear”
He vowed to use the “full power of the state” to tackle hatred against Britain’s Jewish community in an address from Downing Street.

He spoke a few hours after he was heckled as he visited Golders Green in the wake of yesterday’s terror attack.

A group of around 100 people could be heard chanting “Keir Starmer, Jew harmer” and held posters with the same slogan as he arrived.

Community leaders have called on the Government to do more to fight antisemitism following a spate of attacks in recent weeks.

The Met has said suspect in the stabbings had previously been referred to the government's counter-extremism Prevent programme in 2020 and the referral was closed in the same year.

He has been named by media as Somalia-born British national Essa Suleiman.

Before the attack in which two Jewish men were stabbed, the suspected knifeman was involved in an “altercation” in south London earlier in the day which left another person injured, police believe.

A further £25 million will be invested to increase security for Jewish communities after the attack.

Scroll down for the latest updates.

“Yesterday’s abhorrent, antisemitic attack was a vile act of terrorism,” she said.

“My thoughts today remain with the victims, and with the whole Jewish community at a time of deep disquiet and fear.

“Today, the national threat level has increased to ‘severe’, which means a terrorist attack is considered highly likely.

“I know this will be a source of concern to many, particularly amongst our Jewish community, who have suffered so much.

“The Government has today announced a significant increase in investment to protect our Jewish communities, with record funding for policing and security at synagogues, schools and community centres.

And we will do everything in our power to rid society of the evil of antisemitism.

“As the threat level rises, I urge everyone to be vigilant, as they go about their daily lives, and report any concerns they have to the police.

And I can assure everyone that our world-class security services and the police are working, day and night, to keep our country safe.”
Starmer: We will learn any lessons necessary around Prevent
Sir Keir Starmer said the Government needed to be “open to learning any further lessons” on its Prevent anti-extremism programme after the Golders Green attack.

Asked whether Prevent was working, given the suspect had been reported to the programme, the Prime Minister said: “The investigation is obviously still ongoing, and so we haven’t got all the facts yet.

“But prevent was reviewed and we made changes after the Southport attack.

“We need to be open to learning any further lessons that may come out of this investigation, but we’re a very early stage at this point.”
Government could toughen up approach to protests
The Government is looking at string of new measures to target anti-Jewish hate in the UK, Keir Starmer has said.

“We’re looking at what further measures we can take on protests, particularly in relation to chants, to banners and the repeated nature of protests,” he said.

“We’re of course looking at what more needs to be done in health and education, and we will fast-track powers to deal with malign state actors.

So there is a lot that is being done.

“Of course we need to do everything we can, but we do also need to ensure that this is something the whole country is prepared to call out, to see and to fight against.”
Starmer: Those who attend pro-Palestine marches alongside 'infitada' chanters are condoning call for terrorism
The Prime Minister said those attending pro-Palestine marches standing “alongside people who say ‘globalise the intifada’, you are calling for terrorism against Jews”.

Sir Keir Starmer said: “Take the marches that happen regularly across Britain.

“Of course, we protect freedom of speech and peaceful protest in this country, but if you are marching with people wearing pictures of paragliders without calling it out, you are venerating the murder of Jews.

“If you stand alongside people who say, ‘globalise the Intifada’, you are calling for terrorism against Jews, and people who use that phrase should be prosecuted.

“It is racism, extreme racism, and it has left a minority community in this country scared, intimidated, wondering if they belong.

“So I say again, this Government will do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out, we will strengthen our security and protect our Jewish community.

“But I also call on everyone decent in this country to open their eyes to Jewish pain, Jewish suffering and Jewish fear.”
Starmer: Scared Jews' fear has turned to 'terror'
Sir Keir Starmer said Jews in the UK are “scared” and that the anxiety became “terror” in the Golders Green attack.

The Prime Ministerin his address listed a recent slew of attacks targeting Jews and said: “And so people are scared, scared to show who they are in their community, scared to go to synagogue to practice their religion, scared to go to university as a Jew, to send their children to school as a Jew, to tell their colleagues that they are Jewish, even to use our NHS.“
Nobody should live like that in Britain, but Jews do.“And so yesterday, this anxiety that is always there went to another place, to terror, frankly.

That is the right word.”
UK needs new powers to 'tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran'
The UK needs new powers to “tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran” that “want to harm British Jews”, Sir Keir Starmer said.

He also pledged more funding for Jewish security services and to speed up sentencing for antisemitic crimes to act as a deterrent after the Golders Green attack.

During his Downing Street statement, he said: “I want to thank the Jewish security services… who prevented a much greater tragedy yesterday.

“I met some of the first responders today, and on behalf of the country, I thank them for their bravery.

We will strengthen the visible police presence in our Jewish communities.

“We will increase our investment in those Jewish security services.

We will introduce much stronger powers to shut down charities that promote antisemitic extremism.

“We will prevent hate preachers from entering our country, bar them from our campuses, our streets, our communities.

Work with our justice system to speed up sentencing on antisemitic attacks so there is a stronger deterrence factor.

“And we need stronger powers to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran, because we know for a fact that they want to harm British Jews, which is why we will fast track the necessary legislation”.

Starmer: UK must open its eyes to Jewish pain, suffering and fear
Speaking from Downing Street the Prime Minister said events like the attack in Golders Green “keep happening”,
“At moments like this, we often say, this is not Britain that these attacks are an affront to British values, to British tolerance, British decency.

But they keep happening, don’t they?

“And so today, instead, I will simply say that our values are not a gift handed down generation to generation.

“They are something we earn each day through action.

They come from us.

“Antisemitism is an old, old hatred, history shows that the roots are deep, and if you turn away, it grows back.

“Yet, far too many people in this country diminish it.

They either don’t see it or they don’t want to see it.”
Golders Green suspect named as Essa Suleiman
The suspect in the Golders Green attacks has now been named in multiple places as Essa Suleiman.

Suleiman is a 45-year-old British citizen who was born in Somalia before coming to the UK legally as a child.

Met Police chief Mark Rowley has said that he has a "history of serious violence and mental health issues."
Suleiman was treated briefly in hospital after his arrest and he remains in police custody.

An address in south-east London is being searched.

Starmer: 'My government is taking immediate action'
Keir Starmer has told Jewish people that they belong in the UK, in a social media post after visiting Golders Green.

Starmer posted on X: “Yesterday’s terror attack wasn’t an isolated incident, it was the latest attack on the Jewish community for being Jewish.

“Today I spoke with volunteers, first responders from Shomrim and Hatzola to thank them for their bravery.

“I know that this is a deeply worrying time for the whole community.

“My government is taking immediate action.

“We’ve increased enhanced funding for police patrols and protective security and we’re fast-tracking legislation to deal with malign state actors.

“My message to Jewish people is this: you belong here, and we will do everything we can to keep you safe.”
Yusuf: Strip suspect of citizenship if found guilty
The suspect, a 45-year-old British national who was born in Somalia, was arrested by police officers following the stabbing of two Jewish men on Wednesday.

In a post on X, Yusuf said: “The suspect in the Golders Green attack was born in Somalia and granted British citizenship.