Image source, Pool

Security minister Dan Jarvis says people should be "alert and vigilant, but not alarmed" by the decision to raise the UK terror threat level to "severe".

Earlier, the government said the increase followed yesterday's Golders Green stabbings but was not solely a result of that attack.

"I can provide an assurance to the public that our world-class intelligence services and our police force are working night and day to keep our country safe," Jarvis says.

Asked about the Jewish community's heckling of PM Keir Starmer earlier today, Jarvis says: "I completely understand the concerns that have been expressed today and previously."

He adds that "people should be reassured by how seriously" the government takes the threat, describing extra measures announced today.

These included a commitment to fast-track new legislation for a "state-threat proscription tool", and £25 million in extra funding for increased police patrols and security in Jewish communities, he says.

Image source, PA Media

A crowd of demonstrators has gathered outside Downing Street demanding Prime Minister Keir Starmer do more to tackle antisemitism following Wednesday's attack.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) organised the rally following the attack, in which two Jewish men - Shloime Rand, 34, and 76-year-old Moshe Shine - were stabbed in Golders Green, north-west London.

Stephen Silverman of the CAA accuses the government of appeasing "fanatical hatred".

"We have seen no meaningful action which has consequences playing out before our eyes," he says.

Earlier, following the prime minister's speech, the CAA said the "embattled prime minister" had "belatedly" delivered a strong speech but provided "no timeline for action".

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Supplied

Two Jewish men, 34-year-old Shloime Rand and 76-year-old Moshe Shine, were stabbed during the attack on Wednesday. They were treated at the scene and remain in a stable condition in hospital.

Shloime Rand, 34

Rand has spoken to the BBC from hospital, saying he feels like "God's given me back my life".

He describes stab wounds to the chest but says he hopes to be discharged "within the next few days". He says he managed to jump back during the attack, "so thanks God".

Asked whether enough has been done to deal with antisemitism, he says: "Definitely not".

Moshe Shine, 76

A man who says he knows Shine says the 76-year-old lives in Hendon and is originally from the Jewish community in Prestwich, Greater Manchester.

He describes Shine as "a very nice, quiet, honest person".

Rabbi Levi Schapiro from the Jewish Community Council visited both of the men in hospital on Wednesday.

He said Moshe's injuries were more serious but doctors were "optimistic" that he would make a full recovery.

Counter-terror policing head Laurence Taylor says police will be reviewing "all events across the country" after the UK terrorism threat level was raised to severe.

He was responding to a question from the BBC about what it means for large public events and marches planned in London over the next few weeks.

"As part of our review into the change in the threat level, policing will be reviewing all events across the country," he says.

"My teams will be working with forces to ensure that we have appropriate protective security measures in place, that the appropriate mitigations are put in place.

"And we will be engaged with communities who will be affected by large events, as well as those involved in the events, so that we can keep them safe as they can be."

Image source, PA Media

The UK's head of counter-terrorism policing, assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor, says there will be an "enhanced police response in place" across the country.

Officers will be "deploying unpredictably, which means sometimes you will see them and sometimes you won’t, but please know we are with you," he says.

It follows the announcement earlier that the UK's threat level had been upgraded from substantial to severe following Wednesday's attack in Golders Green.

Taylor says it raised threat level means it is now "highly likely" a terrorist attack could happen.

"The UK has been experiencing a gradual increase in terror threats for some time... driven by a rise in both Islamist and extreme right-wring terrorism," Taylor tells reporters outside New Scotland Yard.

"Our casework is increasing across a number of ideologies, and within that, we are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK," he says.

"We’re also working against an unpredictable global situation that has consequences closer to home, including physical threats by state linked actors."

Judith Moritz
Reporting from Salford

Image source, Rob Wood / BBC

Richard Manville is a Mancunian, born and bred. He’s lived here all his life. Not for much longer – he’s packing up the last bits and the furniture has all been removed.

"It’s quite a traumatic experience," he tells me, while filling his suitcase at his home in Salford. "We’ve lived here 33, 34 years. I never thought I’d be leaving here."

Richard, who describes himself as a secular Jew, says he isn't religious, but is proud to be Jewish. His house has been sold and on Monday, he and his wife are moving to Israel – leaving Britain because they say the antisemitism here is intolerable.

"I don't feel safe walking down the street," he says.

"I have to look over my shoulder. I'm constantly aware when I drive my car and I'm looking in the wing mirrors. I can't live in it. It's almost a toxic atmosphere and when is it going to stop?

"It's England. It's Manchester. It's Salford, and it is round the corner to me."

Richard’s mind is made up, reinforced by hundreds of abusive messages he received online after speaking publicly about his decision to leave.

"Some of them were absolutely disgusting and disgraceful and appalling. Typically saying, bye bye, off you go, go over to Israel."

Most Jews say they have no intention of going anywhere. But Richard isn’t alone either. A recent survey suggests that one in five British Jews are thinking about leaving for Israel in the next five years.

Image source, PA Media

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has responded to the increase in terror threat level, saying he wants to "reassure all Londoners and visitors that we are doing everything possible to protect our city and keep all of our communities safe".

He says emergency services prepare "day in, day out" for these situations, and have "well-rehearsed plans" with specialist officers working "around the clock".

He adds: "There will be additional police officers on London's streets over the coming days - including additional armed officers - they are there to help our police service to keep us all safe."

"Severe" is the second highest threat level, below "critical". The UK was last at a "severe" terror threat level in November 2021, following the Liverpool Women’s Hospital bombing and murder of MP David Amess. It was lowered to "substantial" in February 2022.

There are five threat levels:

• Critical: an attack is highly likely in the near future
• Severe: an attack is highly likely
• Substantial: an attack is likely
• Moderate: an attack is possible, but not likely
• Low: an attack is highly unlikely

The government says Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre threat assessment is an "independent, systematic, and rigorous process, based on the very latest intelligence and analysis of internal and external factors which drive the threat".

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says the raised threat level "will be a source of concern to many, particularly amongst our Jewish community, who have suffered so much".

Repeating the government's earlier announcement of increased funding for policing and security at synagogues, schools and community centres, Mahmood says "we will do everything in our power to rid society of the evil of antisemitism".

"As the threat level rises, I urge everyone to be vigilant, as they go about their daily lives, and report any concerns they have to the police," she says.

Image source, EPA

The government says the increase in the threat level follows the Golders Green attack "but 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 right wing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the UK," the government statement reads.

The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre independently sets the terror threat level, but the government says it comes amid "increased state-linked physical threats which is encouraging acts of violence, including against the Jewish community".

Image source, PA Media

The UK national threat level has been increased from "substantial" to "severe" by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre following the attack in Golders Green.

The raised threat level means an attack is highly likely in the next six months, the government says.

Counter-terror police yesterday formally declared the stabbings to be a terrorist incident.

"Today, the national threat level has increased to 'severe', which means a terrorist attack is considered highly likely," says Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Vinnie O'Dowd
Reporting from Golders Green

A man who chased the attacker in Golders Green and helped hold his legs down after he was tackled by police has told the BBC "I saved lives".

Isaac, a volunteer for Jewish security service Shomrim, says he heard a commotion while driving in the area yesterday. He left his car and saw a man with blood on his head. He then saw the suspect.

Isaac followed and chased him down the road on foot for about 100 yards. The attacker was "walking slowly, casually", he says, but Isaac saw a knife in his hand.

He stayed a distance away from the attacker - "10, 15 metres" - saying he followed so he could "scream at them [the public] to get out of the way".

Describing seeing the suspect, he says: "If eyes could kill, I'd be dead."

The police Tasered the attacker, who still held his knife, and struggled with him on the ground. "They are screaming at him to get the knife out of his hand," Isaac says.

He then helped hold the attacker down alongside another Shomrim volunteer. He says: "I was holding onto his ankle, making sure that he couldn't move his leg, his left leg", so he couldn't "wriggle away".

He says a passer-by and the police took the knife out of the man's hand.

"If we find danger, we run toward it," Isaac says. "We don't run away. We never run away, within reason. I felt amazing for saving the community. I saved lives, 100%."

Image source, Supplied

Keir Starmer says the Jewish community has been left scared and intimidated as he urges people in the UK to "open their eyes to Jewish pain" after two men were stabbed in Golders Green yesterday. Here's the latest:

"Miracle" I'm alive, victim tells BBC

• The younger victim, 34-year-old Shloime Rand, tells the BBC it's a "miracle" he's alive, and that he hopes to be discharged "within the next few days". Asked whether enough had been done to deal with antisemitism, he says: "Definitely not"
• His mother said earlier that she was "pretty horrified that these things could happen on the streets of London"
• The other victim, a 76-year-old man, is also still in hospital

What we know about the suspect

• The BBC understands that the suspect is 45-year-old Essa Suleiman from south-east London. He was born in Somalia but came to the UK legally as a child in the 1990s, and is now a British citizen
• He was referred to the government's counter-extremism Prevent programme in 2020, but his case was "closed in the same year", the Metropolitan Police says

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile, at Downing Street

• In a press conference from Downing Street, the PM said the government would strengthen the "visible police presence in communities" and increase investment in Jewish security services, among other measures to tackle antisemitism - including measures relating to protests

In Golders Green

• Starmer was earlier met with protests and heckles during a visit to Golders Green. One, Sophia Ziff, told our correspondent she felt angry. "I don't feel safe. I do not feel supported," she said
• Meanwhile, prayers and religious study have continued this afternoon at the synagogue where the victims were worshipping shortly before Wednesday's attack. “This is who we are. This is where we come," one synagogue member told the BBC

Harry Low
Reporting from Golders Green

Jenny Manson, co-chair of the left-leaning Jewish Voice for Liberation, says she is scared for people like her husband following yesterday's attack.

"I don't go to synagogue myself. I'm secular but some members of my family do, and I think it's now going to be really dangerous," she says.

"It's very sad. I've never felt fear in this country before, and I've met very little antisemitism, but I now think it's dangerous to be visibly a Jew."

She adds: "There has been for a long time, led by, I'm afraid, government and the media, [a practice of] conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

"The danger of this is much more dangerous than we first realised. It means that many, many people think all Jews support Israel."

Image source, PA Media

Starmer used part of his remarks to take aim at the some of the behaviour at pro-Palestinian marches, saying he would look at measures in relation to particular chants and banners.

Earlier, campaign group Stop the War Coalition said it was "wrong" for people to link antisemitic attacks with pro-Palestine marches.

Referring to comments from Jonathan Hall KC, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism and state threats legislation, the campaign group said: "Statements... suggesting that the Palestine marches should be subject to a ‘moratorium’ because of the series of antisemitic attacks in North London, are unacceptable."

The group said it condemned antisemitic attacks and all forms of racism "unequivocally".

John Rees, co-founder of the group, told the BBC's World at One programme that the UK government had long magnified the idea that pro-Palestinian protesters were a threat to the Jewish community.

Earlier, home secretary Shabana Mahmood told the BBC there were "far too many instances" of hate crimes being committed during demonstrations.

After it was revealed the stabbing suspect, 45-year-old Essa Suleiman, was referred to the government counter-terrorism Prevent programme in 2020, Starmer is asked whether the programme can keep people in the UK safe.

Starmer says the investigation into the attack is still ongoing, meaning "we haven't got all of the facts yet".

He says Prevent was reviewed after the 2024 Southport stabbings, but the government needs to be "open to learning any further lessons".

He has now finished speaking.

Here's an explanation of what Prevent is

Starmer is asked about being heckled on a visit to Golders Green this afternoon, and whether the prime minister thinks he's done everything he can for the Jewish community.

The PM says he "absolutely" understands the "high levels of anxiety and concern".

He says he called an emergency Cobra on Wednesday, and pulled together criminal justice agencies so that justice is swiftly dealt.

Starmer than adds that he will look at further measures that can be taken on protests - particularly in relation to chants, banners, and the "repeated nature of protests".

Image source, Pool

The prime minister references behaviour at pro-Palestinian marches, saying that while "of course" the UK protects freedom of speech, "if you are marching with people wearing pictures of paragliders without calling it out, you are venerating the murder of Jews," he says.

• For context: Some Hamas militants used paragliders to enter Israel during the 7 October, 2023 attacks

He adds: "If you are standing alongside people saying 'globalise the intifada', you are calling for terrorism against Jews."

Starmer says that people who use that phrase "should be prosecuted", as it is "extreme racism".

This has left a minority "scared, intimidated, wondering if they belong", Starmer says.

The prime minister calls on "everyone decent in this country, to open their eyes to Jewish pain, Jewish suffering and Jewish fear".

The PM adds people need to come together to fight antisemitism and for the "decent, respectful and tolerant Britain that I and millions of people love".

Starmer says that "we often say this is not Britain, that these attacks are an affront to British values".

"But they keep happening, don't they?" the prime minister says, adding British values are not a gift handed down through generations, but "something we earn each day".

Starmer says the government will strengthen the "visible police presence" in communities, increase investment in Jewish security services, and introduce stronger powers to shut down charities that promote antisemitic extremism.

He says the government will also prevent "hate preachers" from entering the country, and bar them from university campuses, UK streets and communities.

The government will also work with the justice system to speed up sentencing on antisemitic attacks, he adds.

He also says the government will introduce "stronger powers to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran", aiming to fast-track the legislation.