Government announces £25m for security after Golders Green attack
A further £25 million will be invested to increase security for Jewish communities after the suspected terror attack in north London, the Government has said.
The funding will be aimed at boosting police patrols and protections around synagogues, schools and community centres.
Legislation creating proscription-like powers to pursue people and organisations acting on behalf of malign state-sponsored groups will also be “fast-tracked” in the coming weeks, ministers said.
The Press Association understands the plans will be included in the King’s Speech setting out the Government’s legislative agenda for the coming parliamentary session on May 13.
Police across the country have stepped up patrols in response to the attack that saw two Jewish men – 34-year-old Shilome Rand and 76-year-old Moshe Ben Baila, named locally as Moshe Shine – taken to hospital after being stabbed in the Golders Green.
A 45-year-old man, said by police to be a Somali-born British national, was arrested following the incident on Wednesday.
The stabbings are the latest in a series of attacks on Jewish sites over recent weeks and have prompted calls for urgent action and accusations the Government has not done enough to tackle antisemitism.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signalled she would consider banning the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an Iranian military group, as she faced questions about the new laws.
Speaking to broadcasters on Thursday morning, she said it would be inappropriate to confirm such a move before the laws are on the statute books, but that she would be looking at “all organisations that would then fall within the purview” of the legislation.
“Just to reassure you, the only reason I’m not giving a wider commentary on who this will include is because we would never give any commentary on organisations that we are considering for either our proscription regime… or indeed, this new regime,” she told Sky News.
“I expect to be making decisions in the very near future about the groups that we will be designating as state-linked.”
Mr Rand, the younger victim of Wednesday’s attack, told ITV: “People are really afraid, people are uncomfortable walking in the streets.
“People are blaming obviously the Government. You know they aren’t doing anything about what’s going on for the past few months.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis called for “meaningful action” to tackle the “root causes” of antisemitism, while the Board of Deputies of British Jews said antisemitism must be “confronted, punished and deterred with the full force of the state”.
Sir Keir Starmer vowed that the Government would address the causes of antisemitism ahead of an expected meeting with criminal justice agencies on Thursday to discuss the attack, and said he would visit Golders Green “as soon as possible”.
But the Prime Minister is facing pressure to go further, including calls to ban pro-Palestinian marches.
Jonathan Hall, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said it was 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.
Ms Mahmood rejected this characterisation, telling BBC Breakfast: “I think the phrase ‘national emergency’ has particular connotations.
“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.”
But Mr Hall’s comments were echoed by the chief rabbi, who said “hate marches” together with “purposeful anti-Israel demonisation” had contributed to “a tone of antisemitism” in the UK.
Opposition politicians have also joined calls to ban the marches, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch saying it was “quite clear they are used as a cover for violence and intimidation against Jews”.
Meanwhile, police forces across the country said they would step up patrols in Jewish areas in response to Wednesday’s attack.
Greater Manchester Police said it 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 south-east of the city after it was reported the suspect had been involved in a prior “altercation” with another person.
A joint statement from 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,” the statement 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”.
Published: by Radio NewsHub