Terror threat level raised to severe after Golders Green attack and suspect named

Keir Starmer vowed to stamp out anti-Semitism and hatred as the UK’s threat level was increased to “severe” following the Golders Green stabbings. Describing the attack, in which two people were injured, as “an affront to British values,” the PM said: “This government will do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out, we will strengthen our security and protect our Jewish community . “But I also call on everyone decent in this country to open their eyes to Jewish pain, Jewish suffering and Jewish fear.” The suspect who was arrested after Wednesday’s attack was named as 45-year-old Essa Suleiman, a British citizen who was born in Somalia. In 2020 he was brought to the attention of the government’s ­anti-extremism programme Prevent. But the case was closed later that year. Mr Starmer said Prevent was fully reviewed after the 2024 Southport stabbings, but the government would “be open to learning any further lessons”. He said: “An attack on our Jewish community is an attack on all of us, and we have to approach it in that way. We often say this is not Britain, that these attacks are an affront to British values. But they keep happening, don’t they?” The PM added: “We are fast-tracking legislation to deal with malign state actors and of course, we must absolutely deal with the root causes of both anti-Semitism and extremism. “I do think there’s a wider duty on all of us in terms of the confidence in the criminal justice system to be able to deal with attacks like this, to show it can act in a swift, agile and visible way. “It is often said that we stand with our Jewish community, but it’s our fight as well. It’s the fight of everyone in this country, because it’s about what sort of a country that we want to live in.” Both the men who were stabbed in the incident – Moshe Shine, 76, and Shloime Rand, 34 – are recovering well in hospital. Speaking about the attack for the first time, Shloime said: “It’s a miracle happened to me. I feel like God’s given me back my life. “I am really happy that it was only these injuries, it wasn’t worse. I would have been even happier if nothing would have happened, but you know, in this situation I’m very happy that I survived and I can talk. I’ve had a stab to my chest and my lungs have to recover. The oxygen was reduced, and I hope I’ll be better soon.” He said he was walking down the street when an attacker came towards him and “stabbed me in the chest”. He added: “I managed to jump back, so thanks God.” Asked whether enough had been done to deal with anti- Semitism, Shloime said: “Definitely not. Maybe from now on, you know, the government will pull their socks up and begin dealing with the problem properly. “It’s terrible, and it can no longer be ignored by the government. It’s come to a point that people’s lives are in danger. I have friends and people telling me they’re scared to walk in the street, and they look all around them, they don’t know what’s going on.” He added: “Statements coming out from Downing Street that they will not tolerate any anti-Semitism is not enough. The tone they talk about what’s going on has to be changed to get the streets to be safe again.” His mum said: “I’m horrified that these things could happen on the streets of London, in an innocent community where we try our best not to hurt anyone.” Starmer visited a community centre in Golders Green on Thursday to meet Jewish leaders. He was heckled by protestors as he was driven in. But after he spent an hour and a half inside, he was praised by some. Ben Grosnass, from Shomrim, the volunteer security service, called the PM “brave” and praised him for listening to those in the room. He said: “I thought what he did was brave – though he would have been damned if he didn’t attend because of those outside.” He added: “I was generally encouraged by the way the Prime Minister spoke with us. “I was pleased that he actually said he was encouraging us to express our views and feelings openly and honestly – which we did. Not only is it important for suspects to be arrested but we needed to see the law coming down harshly on hate marches and violence and those coming close to synagogues yelling threats. That is not good enough.” A rally outside Downing Street on Thursday also saw crowds calling 'shame' on the Prime Minister at the event organised by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism. It came as a dramatic new video released last night shows people in a car shouting warnings as a man runs down the street holding a knife. In the clip, a man holding a camera is heard shouting in Hebrew from his car and honking his horn as a suspect runs along the pavement. At one point, the man with the knife appears to lunge at someone who runs off. Suleiman is understood to be a Somali translator who once worked as a school security guard. He was still being questioned last night after his arrest on suspicion of attempted murder. Police are also investigating a separate incident believed to involve the same suspect in Southwark, South London, at 8:50am on Wednesday. Officers were called to reports of a man armed with a knife involved in an altercation. The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre last night raised the UK threat level from substantial to severe. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “This means a terrorist attack is considered highly likely.”