UK raises terror threat to ‘severe’ after Golders Green stabbings, Starmer unveils anti-semitism drive

The UK terrorism threat level has been raised to "severe" after two men were stabbed in Golders Green on Wednesday.

The government says the increase is not solely due to the stabbings, adding that the threat has been "rising for some time".

Speaking from Downing Street earlier, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised a raft of measures to tackle antisemitism, including strengthening police presence in Jewish communities, and fast-tracking powers through Parliament to tackle state-sponsored threats.

Starmer also urged people in the UK to "open their eyes to Jewish pain".

One of the victims - 34-year-old Shloime Rand - told the BBC from hospital that he felt "like God has given me back my life".

In an update on X, rabbi Levi Schapiro who visited the victims in hospital said Rand had been discharged.

The other victim, 76-year-old Moshe Shine, remains in hospital and is in a stable condition.

Starmer said the reported stabbing of two people in a predominantly Jewish area of north London on Wednesday was "deeply concerning".

Starmer told lawmakers in parliament that a police investigation was underway and "we all need to ... be absolutely clear in our determination to deal with any of these offences".

Suspect

The suspect is 45-year-old Essa Suleiman from south-east London, the BBC reported.

He came to the UK legally from Somalia in the early-1990s and is a British citizen.

He was referred to the counter-terrorism Prevent programme in 2020, the Metropolitan Police says, with the case subsequently closed later that year.

Demonstrators have gathered outside Downing Street this evening to demand "meaningful action" from the PM following the attack. He was met with protests and heckles on a visit to Golders Green earlier on Thursday.

It comes as one Jewish man tells the BBC he is leaving Salford for Israel, explaining: I don't feel safe walking down the street".

With inputs from AFP