UK terror threat level increased to ‘severe’ after stabbing

The UK’s terror threat level has been increased to “severe” after the stabbing of two Jewish men in an alleged terrorist attack in Golders Green, the Government has said.

The suspect in the attack was on Thursday named as Essa Suleiman.

The 45-year-old, who is being held in connection with Wednesday’s north London attack, was in 2020 referred to the government’s counter-terror programme.

Suleiman is a British national born in Somalia who had a “history of serious violence and mental health issues”, police say.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said in a Downing Street address that the government is open to learning lessons about Prevent following the attack.

Protesters heckled Sir Keir as he arrived in and left Golders Green to meet first responders and community leaders.

Dozens of people chanted offensive slogans.

The government has come in for fierce criticism over its response to antisemitic attacks from critics who say not enough has been done to protect the Jewish community.

Jewish leaders warn antisemitism is becoming normalised .

Watch: Starmer says government must be open to learning lessons on Prevent
UK was last at severe terror threat in November 2021
The UK was last at severe in November 2021, following the Liverpool Women’s Hospital bombing and murder of Sir David Amess.

It was then lowered to substantial in February 2022.

"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.

Stop the War warns of 'agenda to limit protesters' rights'
Stop the War has suggested calls for a halt to its marches “appear to be part of a wider agenda to clamp down on protest more generally, and to limit our rights”.

The group said it condemned unequivocally the Golders Green attacks, “as we do all forms of antisemitism and racism”, adding: “No-one should be attacked for their race or religion.”
At the scene in Golders Green on Wednesday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said debate about international affairs should not be allowed to justify antisemitism.

He said: “Legitimate concern or debate about international affairs must never be allowed to be used to legitimise antisemitism or violence against Jewish people here in Britain.

“When that line is blurred, attacks become more likely.”
Terror threat level raised to ‘severe’ after Golders Green attack
The UK terrorism threat level has been raised to “severe” in the wake of the Golders Green stabbings, meaning a terror attack is “highly likely”.

The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre announced the decision on Thursday, the day after two Jewish men were stabbed in north London and in the wake of a spate of attacks in Jewish neighbourhoods in recent weeks.

The body, which is based in MI5 but makes independent assessments, previously set the threat level at “substantial”, meaning an attack was “likely”.

Farage accuses government of weakness
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who visited the attack scene at Golders Green, accused the government of having been weak on antisemitism.

He said: “I’m afraid we have allowed marches to take place, with chants being heard over the streets of London and other cities.

“We’ve not acted and the government has been weak, weak, weak on all of this.

“I’m not pretending we can reverse this tide of hatred overnight.

We can’t.

It’s here.

It’s embedded.”
In pictures: Demonstrators in Golders Green
Suspect Essa Suleiman was referred to counterterror programme: full report
Golders Green attack suspect named as it’s revealed he was referred to Prevent scheme
Rabbi had to tell pupils on Auschwitz trip about London attack
A London rabbi was taking a group of Jewish children on a school trip to Auschwitz on Wednesday when he heard news of the Golders Green stabbings.

Rabbi Doron Birnbaum, 35, from Hendon, told The Independent: “As we were in the latrines - a barrack where they used to allow women to go to the toilet, if you can call it that, and if ever they were allowed to go - my phone pings.

“I looked at my phone, and there are two Jews who have been stabbed in Golders Green for no other crime other than being a Jew.”
Rabbi Birnbaum, who has worked with Jewish schools in northwest London for more than a decade, messaged his family’s WhatsApp group to ensure they were safe.

“That is what Jews do.

And it's around the world.

That's what we have to do”, he said.

“I then had to take a group of 40 teenagers who were on a trip to Auschwitz, sit them outside the gas chambers on the grass, to tell them what's happened in Golders Green and ask them to check in on their parents to see if they're okay.

“That is astonishing and people need to see that there is a connection there.”
Pro-Palestine activists deny marches incubate antisemitism
Pro-Palestine campaigners have hit back at suggestions their marches incubate antisemitism and should be banned.

The Stop the War Coalition, which is planning a major demonstration in London on 16 May, said attempts to link recent “horrific antisemitic attacks” in the capital with marches in solidarity with Palestine were false.

Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has said it is currently impossible for such marches not to incubate antisemitism.

Describing recent attacks on Jews as a “massive national security emergency”, he called for a moratorium on pro-Palestinian marches, in comments to Times Radio.

Police step up patrols and stop-and-searches
Police across the UK have stepped up patrols in response to the double stabbing in which two Jewish men – Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76, named locally as Moshe Shine – were injured and taken to hospital.

Greater Manchester Police said they had deployed extra officers around the city, with a “high-visibility presence within our Jewish communities in north Manchester, Bury and Salford”.

West Yorkshire Police and Thames Valley Police both said they would increase patrols to provide additional reassurance.

In London, counter-terrorism officers investigating the attack said they were also searching an address in the southeast of the city.

Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams, the regional basic command unit commander, and Barnet Council chief executive Cath Shaw said “significant number of officers” would be in the area to support the investigation.

“This gives police officers temporary powers to stop and search people in the area without needing specific suspicion, where there is a risk of serious violence,” they said.

“This is a preventative measure designed to deter further criminality.

We were already deploying an increased number of counter-terrorism response vehicles to respond to suspicious activity.”
They said there would be an “increased policing presence in and around schools, transport hubs, high footfall areas and faith venues”.