Starmer heckled during Golders Green visit

The prime minister has been heckled during a visit to Golders Green, the north London suburb where two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday.

Sir Keir Starmer was meeting leaders from the Shomrim security group and Hatzola, a Jewish medical charity, whose ambulances were set on fire in an arson attack last month.

The prime minister was joined by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and Sarah Sackman, a justice minister and the local MP.

On Thursday, the government announced it was increasing the money available for protecting Jewish communities by £25m, bringing the total to £58m.

The money will go towards increasing police presence and patrols in Jewish areas, placing specialist and plain-clothes officers in the Jewish community, and paying for protective security for synagogues, schools and community centres.

On his arrival in Golders Green, the prime minister was met by a group of protesters holding signs and chanting "Keir Starmer, Jew Harmer".

Other demonstrators shouted "traitor" as the prime minister's car drove past.

Those who had gathered outside Hatzola's offices told the BBC they were scared to be Jewish in the UK and more needed to be done to protect British Jews.

Sophia Ziff said "I don't know if I should be reconsidering where in the world I should go, because I don't feel safe as a British Jew. I don't feel safe. I do not feel supported."

She said as a traditionally left-leaning person she felt let down by Starmer: "I just feel like all the platitudes are like 'thoughts and prayers' and 'so sorry' and 'horrific' but what are you actually doing?"

Speaking about the attack ahead of his visit, Sir Keir said: "There's no getting away from the fact that this was not a one-off, this has been a series of attacks on our Jewish community, particularly in recent weeks.

"And there is a very deep sense of anxiety, of concern about security, about safety, about identity."

The Golders Green attack is the latest in a string of incidents targeting Jewish people including in October 2025, when two worshippers at a synagogue in Manchester were killed in a knife attack.

Speaking to BBC Radio London, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: "The community don't think that they [the government] are doing enough."

She called for an "increased police presence" and added that she was not sure if the £25m boost announced by the government would be enough.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey urged the prime minister to provide "additional protective security measures to the Jewish community without delay".

He said this should include "high-visibility police protection" for synagogues and Jewish areas.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the government needed to take tougher action on pro-Palestine marches adding: "The government has been weak, weak, weak on all of this."

Jonathan Hall KC, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has called for a "moratorium" on pro-Palestinian marches that he said "incubate" antisemitism.

The Stop The War Coalition, which is planning to hold a demonstration on 16 May, said: "Attempts by some to connect the series of horrific antisemitic attacks in north London with the marches in solidarity with Palestine are false.

"We condemn unequivocally these attacks, as we do all forms of antisemitism and racism - no one should be attacked for their race or religion."

The organisation added that its marches were "supported by many Jewish people who attend" and they were not "hate marches" but "expressions of solidarity and support for those under attack".

Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader of England and Wales, said the attack was "horrendous".

Separately, Polanski reposted a social media message criticising the police for "repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head" when he was incapacitated from the Taser.

It came after clips shared on social media of the apparent arrest in the Golders Green attack, appeared to show two police officers kicking the suspect in the head several times.

The Met released footage from the officers' body-worn cameras, in which they can be heard shouting repeatedly for the suspect to "get down on the ground" before he is Tasered, and then "drop the knife".

The force said "the suspect refused to show his hands, was violent and continued to pose a clear threat," adding that the suspect "continued to try to attack and stab" the officers as they were detaining him.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley praised the officers' courage, saying: "These were not armed officers and they feared he was carrying an explosive device."

The police have said the suspect had a history of serious violence and mental health issues.

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