UK raises terror threat level after London stabbings
Britain has raised its terror threat level from “substantial” to “serious” following an anti-Semitic stabbing attack in north London, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying Jewish people live in fear and vowing stronger action to protect them.
The government said the rise to the second highest threat level out of five meant there was a high likelihood of a terror attack within the next six months following the stabbing of two Jewish men in the Golders Green area on Wednesday.
This was determined independently by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Center.
The UK last encountered such a threat level in November 2021, following the bombing of Liverpool Women’s Hospital and the murder of MP David Amess, and was then reduced to the “significant” level in early 2022.
Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood said the assessment reflected the latest intelligence and a long-term increase in extremist threats and was not made solely in response to the Golders Green attack.
Officials said the classification was made because of a series of recent attacks in London and growing security concerns linked to foreign governments that have fueled violence, including against the Jewish community.
Starmer, who has faced serious criticism from some in the Jewish community for the government’s response, has promised more police in Jewish areas, a crackdown on those who spread antisemitism and new legislation to deal with state-sponsored threats such as Iran.
“People are afraid, afraid to show who they are in their communities, afraid to go to synagogue and practice their religion, afraid to go to university as a Jew, send their children to school as a Jew, afraid to tell their colleagues they are Jews,” Starmer said in a televised statement. he said.
He had previously been jeered and heckled by a small crowd waving banners reading “Keir Starmer Jew Harmer” when he visited Golders Green, where the latest attack took place.
Police said the suspect in the attack, a 45-year-old British citizen born in Somalia, had a history of serious violence and mental health problems.
Local media confirmed he had previously been referred to counter-radicalization scheme Prevent in 2020, while local media reported he had served prison time for an incident in 2008 in which he stabbed an officer and a police dog.
Amid widespread calls for greater protection for Britain’s small community of around 290,000 Jews, Starmer said the government would “do everything in our power to stamp out this hatred”.
This includes stronger powers to close charities that promote extremism and restrictions on “hate preachers”, he said.
The government also said it would accelerate legislation allowing the prosecution of people acting as proxies for a state-backed group, so they could be treated in the same way as spies of foreign intelligence services.
“We need stronger forces to combat the malign threat posed by states like Iran because we know they want to harm British Jews,” Starmer said.
A pro-Iran government group has claimed responsibility for some recent attacks, while last month two men were charged under Britain’s existing National Security Act with being commissioned by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance.
The Iranian government has denied such accusations.
One of the biggest issues causing anger among the UK’s Jewish community has been the pro-Palestinian marches that have become commonplace since the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
Critics say the protests have created hostility and become a hotbed of anti-Semitism.
“If you side with those who say ‘Globalize the Intifada’, you are calling for terrorism against Jews, and those who use this phrase should be prosecuted,” Starmer said.
“This is racism, extreme racism, and it has left a minority community in this country scared, intimidated and wondering if they belong.”
