Can I just say thank you to you all for coming in at short notice for this really important discussion about criminal justice in the aftermath of an appalling attack last night in Golders Green, a terror attack in Golders Green. It is important that we come together very quickly now to take the necessary action.
What we saw last night was people being targeted because they are Jewish. I am absolutely clear about that and of course our thoughts are with the victims, and we wish them a speedy recovery, and with their families and loved ones.
And of course with the volunteers and first responders who were quite incredible in their response yesterday. But there is 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, frankly.
I went to Kenton Synagogue last week and heard first-hand from some in the synagogue who of course had been subject to an attack there.
So we have to understand that wider impact and that visceral feeling that many in our Jewish community have. And we have to be really clear that an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on all of us. And we have to approach it in that way.
Now yesterday, as you probably saw, I chaired a COBR meeting, which some around the table were at. That was dealing predominantly with our immediate response and how we coordinate that response. But also about what enhanced security and other measures need to go in place.
And we’ve already got enhanced funding in place. That’s been there for some time. But we’re uplifting that, as has been announced this morning.
We are fast-tracking legislation to deal with malign state actors. And of course we must absolutely deal with the root causes of both antisemitism and extremism. But today is about part of the response, which is really important, which is the criminal justice response.
Because a number of people have been arrested, a number are going through the criminal justice system. And it’s really important that we are able collectively to demonstrate that the response will be swift and visible. And that’s why I wanted to get you around the table today.
I do recognise and respect the various independence that’s carried by people around the table. I understand it. I respect it. And we can operate within that framework. But 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 appalling attacks like this, to show that it can act in a swift, agile, and visible way. And I look forward to a discussion with you on how we make that happen.
I want to make a wider point here because it’s often said, after an attack like that, a terror attack, an appalling attack, an antisemetic attack last night, it’s often said that we stand with our Jewish community. And we do stand with our Jewish community, of course we do.
But it’s our fight as well. It’s the fight of everyone in this country, because it’s about what country we want to live in. So yes, we stand with, we support our Jewish community, of course we do.
But we’ve got to make this a bigger fight. It is a fight for what we believe is the kind of country that we ought to and want to live in. So this is our fight and it is really important, I think, that we broaden it in that way.
