Starmer pledges crackdown on antisemitic protest chants as UK terror threat raised to 'severe' after Golders Green stabbing

Keir Starmer has pledged to crack down on those "venerating the murder of Jews" at protest marches as the UK terror threat level was raised to "severe" in the wake of the Golders Green attack. The prime minister promised to do "everything in our power to stamp this hatred out" after meeting emergency workers and community leaders near the scene in north-west London where two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday.

The UK terrorism threat level was raised on Thursday evening to severe by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), based at MI5, meaning a terrorist attack is "highly likely". It is the second-highest of the five tiers, the highest, "critical", meaning an act is likely to be "imminent".

Amid fear and anxiety among British Jews, Starmer is facing calls to do more to protect them after a string of antisemitic attacks, which appear to have intensified amid the Israel-Gaza war, and US-Israeli strikes on Iran. His presence in Golders Green was greeted by heckling from Stop the Hate protesters, a group campaigning against antisemitism, with one calling him a "traitor" for failing to keep Jews safe.

The government's counter-extremism scheme is also under scrutiny after it emerged the suspect in the attack was referred to the Prevent programme and cleared of being a terrorist danger six years ago. The suspect, understood to be 45-year-old Essa Suleiman, was referred to Prevent in 2020 and the case was closed within six weeks by the deradicalisation scheme, which has faced previous criticism for being ineffective.

The man was arrested by the Metropolitan police on suspicion of attempted murder on Wednesday shortly after the stabbings, and is currently in custody. Suleiman was born in February 1981 and came to the UK as a child.

In a statement from Downing Street after visiting Golders Green, Starmer acknowledged the fear among Jews, highlighting that the latest attack came after an arson attempt in Hendon, an attack on the Jewish ambulance service, a firebomb at a Harrow synagogue, and the murder of two Jewish men at a Manchester synagogue last year.

In his strongest remarks yet on antisemitism, Starmer called on people to "open their eyes to Jewish pain". Of pro-Palestine marches where some protesters chant or display antisemitic slogans, the prime minister said: "Of course, we protect freedom of speech and peaceful protest in this country, but if you are marching with people wearing pictures of paragliders without calling it out, you are venerating the murder of Jews.

"If you stand alongside people who say 'globalise the intifada', you are calling for terrorism against Jews, and people who use that phrase should be prosecuted.

"It is racism, extreme racism, and it has left a minority community in this country scared, intimidated, wondering if they belong."

He added: "Antisemitism is an old, old hatred. History shows that the roots are deep, and if you turn away, it grows back. Yet, far too many people in this country diminish it. They either don't see it or they don't want to see it."

One of the organisers of pro-Palestine marches, Stop the War, which is taking part in a major demonstration in London on 16 May, said attempts to link recent "horrific antisemitic attacks" in the capital with marches in solidarity with Gaza were "false".

After his visit, Starmer promised to increase powers to target antisemitic preachers, and the Guardian understands the review of laws on public order and hate crime is set to be handed to ministers within weeks. However, the government is not considering calls for a pause on pro-Gaza marches, which was suggested this week by Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer on terrorism, on the grounds that they were incubating hatred towards Jews.

Starmer also pledged £25m more funding for Jewish security services and stronger powers to shut down charities that promote antisemitic extremism.

"We will prevent hate preachers from entering our country, bar them from our campuses, our streets, our communities; work with our justice system to speed up sentencing on antisemitic attacks so there is a stronger deterrence factor," he said.

"And we need stronger powers to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran, because we know for a fact that they want to harm British Jews, which is why we will fast-track the necessary legislation."

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, earlier promised to "do everything in my power" to keep British Jews safe. She said the two victims, Shilome Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76, continued to be treated in hospital and were in a stable condition.

The Home Office said the threat level had risen after Wednesday's stabbing "but it is not solely a result of that attack. The terrorist threat level in the UK has been rising for some time, driven by an increase in broader Islamist and extreme rightwing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the UK.

"While the UK national threat level set independently by JTAC reflects the terrorist threat in the UK, it comes against a backdrop of increased state-linked physical threats, which is encouraging acts of violence, including against the Jewish community."

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. It is understood the draft laws will be included in the king's speech setting out the government's legislative agenda for the next parliamentary session, on 13 May.

The Metropolitan police commissioner, Mark Rowley, said on Wednesday the individual in custody had a "history of serious violence and mental health issues". Police were treating the stabbings, which happened just after 11am on Wednesday, as terrorism, with the suspect described as having been allegedly looking for anyone "visibly Jewish" to attack.

Several political parties have called for stronger laws on protest in the wake of the terror attack. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, who visited the scene on the day of the stabbings, said the attacks on Jewish people were a "national emergency", and argued it was clear that demonstrations were being "used as a cover for violence and intimidation against Jews".

The Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, who visited Golders Green on Thursday, said: "I'm not pretending we can reverse this tide of hatred overnight. We can't. It's here. It's embedded." He criticised the government for being "weak" and allowing "marches to take place, with chants being heard over the streets of London and other cities".

His home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, called for the Golders Green suspect to be "stripped of his citizenship" and deported from the country if found guilty.

However, the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, said that "any response to these abhorrent attacks that curtails our civil liberties would be wrong" and called for politicians to "work together to protect Jewish people". He referred to his experience of "antisemitic abuse every single day" and criticised other politicians' use of "antisemitism as a political football".

He also reposted a social media post questioning the police methods used to detain the Golders Green suspect, which accused officers of "repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head" when he was already incapacitated from being tasered.

Rowley said in a letter to Polanski that the post was "inaccurate and misinformed" and he was "disappointed". Rowley said the officers "are nothing short of extraordinary. Without their efforts to stop him I dread to think what the outcome could have been."

He added: "London's Jewish communities are scared. They have experienced a series of targeted attacks on the community, and they expect our officers to act, protect them.

"That is exactly what our officers did yesterday. Your decision to criticise these officers, using your public profile and reach will have a chilling effect."

A Green party spokesperson said: "Zack has seen the video, like everyone else, and doesn't know the full picture and knows it was a very difficult situation for the authorities, but we do need to understand more about the response."

Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, co-signed a letter addressed to the prime minister calling on him to "take immediate and visible action". It called on Starmer to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and described the growing number of attacks on Jewish life as "a damning indictment of the scale of antisemitism in this country".