Golders Green Attack

I was horrified to see the recent attack in Golders Green, and my heart goes out to the victims and their loved ones. It has caused real fear and anxiety within the Jewish community, and rightly so. Week after week, we are seeing British Jews attacked, intimidated and persecuted. That is a damning indictment of the scale of antisemitism in this country.

In a recent interview with The Jewish Chronicle, Ed Davey was clear that concerns about safety among Jewish communities are very real and cannot be dismissed. He said that any attempt to downplay these fears “flies in the face of reality.” He also raised this at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this year, making clear there is no place for antisemitism in our society.

Antisemitic hate incidents have reached abhorrent levels. The Community Security Trust recorded 4,103 anti-Jewish hate incidents in 2023, up from 1,662 in 2022, and 3,528 in 2024. These figures underline just how serious the situation has become.

The Government must act now by providing additional protective security measures for Jewish communities to keep people safe, alongside delivering a clear and credible plan to tackle antisemitism at its root. Everyone should feel safe in this country, regardless of their identity or religion.

In our manifesto, the Liberal Democrats committed to ensuring that police and prosecutors have the resources and training they need to prevent and prosecute hate crime, while also supporting survivors. That includes funding protective security measures for places most at risk, such as places of worship, schools and community centres.

We have also long called for the proscription of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who have threatened the safety of the Jewish community globally for a number of decades.

At the same time, we must challenge the hostile and hateful rhetoric in media and public life that too often creates an environment where such incidents can occur. Words matter, and they have consequences.

The Liberal Democrats have long called for stronger action in this area. Alistair Carmichael wrote to the Home Secretary in November 2023 urging the proscription of Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation, a step the Government finally took in 2024. Christine Jardine has also pressed the Government to convene cross-party talks on tackling rising antisemitism.

Ed Davey has met repeatedly with organisations including the Community Security Trust and the Antisemitism Policy Trust to discuss the rise in antisemitism and what more must be done. A few years ago I attended an awareness session with the Antisemitism Trust and was particularly struck with the extent to which the Jewish community faces antisemitism. It is truly unacceptable. I have also been proactive in my own engagement with the Jewish student population in St Andrews and recently attended a Friday Night Dinner hosted by University of St Andrews’ Jewish Society where I heard first hand how students are being impacted.

There is no place for antisemitism in our society, and we must be clear and united in standing against it wherever it appears.