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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Dave Rich

After Golders Green, this is what British Jews need from the government, the police – and the rest of society

Keir Starmer, Met police commissioner Mark Rowley and home secretary Shabana Mahmood speak with members of the Jewish community in Golders Green, north west London, on Thursday.
Keir Starmer, Met police commissioner Mark Rowley and home secretary Shabana Mahmood speak with members of the Jewish community in Golders Green, north west London, on Thursday. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Another week, another attack on British Jews; and rather than synagogues being petrol-bombed in the middle of the night, now it is ordinary Jews being stabbed in broad daylight. It’s been described as this country’s biggest national security emergency for almost a decade by the UK’s terrorism watchdog. Finding a solution will mean some hard questions, not just for government and police but for wider society too.

The immediate move is, of course, more policing and more funding for security. The first job of government is to protect its people, and this should be done without question. Prosecutions should be expedited through the courts, as they were with the riots that followed the Southport attack. But physical protection is, in a way, the easy part.

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