UK raises terror threat to severe as Prime Minister Keir Starmer vows to boost security for Jewish community

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to boost security for the Jewish community following the latest attack against it, as the interior ministry announced the country’s terrorism threat level had been raised to “severe”.

Facing accusations from angry British Jews that his government has repeatedly failed to protect them, Starmer pledged immediate increased funding for synagogues and other sites but insisted UK society must “come together” to “fight antisemitism”.

The British leader also accused Iran of wanting “to harm British Jews” in the wake of Wednesday’s latest attack targeting the community in which two Jewish men were stabbed in north London.

His comments follow repeated warnings from officials that hostile states are intent on using proxies to conduct attacks in the UK, after a string of arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in the capital.

Later Thursday, the interior ministry announced the country’s terrorism threat level had been raised to “severe”, the second highest in the five-tier system and meaning another attack “is highly likely in the next six months”.

It had been at “substantial” — meaning an attack was merely “likely” — since February 2022.

Hours before the announcement, Starmer made a televised Downing Street address and warned curbing anti-Semitism was “about society every bit as much as it is about security”.

“This government will do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out,” he added, after visiting the scene of the knifings, where he faced boos and heckling from locals.

“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.”

Security fears

The two men were attacked in broad daylight in Golders Green, a north London area with a large Jewish population.

The victims, aged 76 and 34, were in a stable condition in hospital.

A 45-year-old man, a British national who was born in Somalia and came to the UK as a child, arrested at the scene remains in custody. UK media has named the suspect as Essa Suleiman.

It comes nearly seven months after a deadly attack at a synagogue in Manchester, and the recent string of arson incidents.

Monitoring groups have reported a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain, particularly since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began.

Interior minister Shabana Mahmood announced Thursday an extra £25 million ($33 million) for more protective security for Jewish synagogues, schools, places of worship and community centres.

But Rabbi Ben Kurzer, of the Golders Green Synagogue, urged the government to do more.

“There is definitely not a significant police presence on a regular basis in these areas,” he told BBC Radio.

“We have little bits here and there, but most of the security that we’re seeing is private.”

A little-known group believed to be linked to Iran, and which has claimed responsibility for the previous arson attacks and others in Europe, said one of its “lone wolves” was behind the stabbings, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) -- meaning The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand -- made the uncorroborated claim in a video posted online, according to SITE.

‘Suffer’

Mahmood said the government would fast-track legislation to deal with “a gap in the law when it comes to organisations that may be linked to hostile states” and their proxies.

Meanwhile, Starmer said ministers were assessing how to further restrict contentious pro-Palestinian protests, which critics claim are a hotbed of antisemitism, after last year boosting police powers to regulate them.

He added if those attending the marches were standing “alongside people who say ‘globalise the intifada’, you are calling for terrorism against Jews”.

Golders Green local Max Radford, 53, said Wednesday’s attack was “exactly what the intifada looks like”.

“They’ve been chanting it on the streets of London, Manchester, Birmingham,” he said.

“And now intifada is on our street, that’s what we have to suffer.”

Organisers insist they are demonstrating against Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and deny they are hostile to the Jewish community.

Jonathan Hall, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said Wednesday it was impossible for such marches not to “incubate” antisemitism.

He described recent attacks on Jews as a “massive national security emergency” and called for a “moratorium” on the protests.

Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right Reform UK party, visited the Golders Green attack scene Thursday and accused the authorities of being too “soft” on “discriminatory” chants.