Antisemitism 'a national security emergency', government terror adviser says

Attacks on Jewish people in the UK are "the biggest national security emergency" in almost a decade, the government's adviser on terrorism has told the BBC.

Jonathan Hall KC said British Jews were "now thinking they cannot live a normal life" due to a series of incidents in recent months where Jewish communities have been targeted.

The most recent of these came on Wednesday, when two Jewish men, named locally as Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76, were stabbed in Golders Green, north London.

Police have declared the attack a terrorist incident and have arrested a 45-year-old British national, who came to the UK from Somalia as a child, on suspicion of attempted murder.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she did not agree that attacks on the Jewish community constituted a national emergency, but insisted that the issue was an emergency for her and was being treated as an "absolute priority" by the government.

"The phrase national emergency has particular connotations... it means for a period you change your democracy and you disapply some elements of our democratic society," she told BBC Breakfast.

"I don't believe this is where we are today," she said.

The government has announced an extra £25m in funding for increased police patrols and security in Jewish communities.

The funding will also be used to put further protections in place around synagogues, schools and community centres.

Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the UK's chief rabbi, said Wednesday's attack "proves that if you are visibly Jewish, you're not safe and far more needs to be done".

He 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".

Mahmood said she understood that there was fear within the community, adding that the government was putting more policing and security in place "so that people can go about their business".

She said she accepted that security could only tackle the "end of the problem" and that more must be done to address antisemitism "at its root".

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said it was "shameful" that attacks on Jewish communities were happening "on such a frequent basis" in the UK and agreed with Hall that it amounted to a national emergency.

"I think from the government, words are no longer enough," he told BBC Breakfast.

Wednesday's attack follows a spate of incidents in recent months targeting Jewish communities in the UK: