Terror threat level raised to ‘severe’ after Golders Green attack

The UK terrorism threat level has been raised to “severe”, meaning a terror attack is “highly likely” in the wake of the Golders Green stabbings.

The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre announced the decision on Thursday, the day after two Jewish men were stabbed in north London and in the wake of a spate of attacks in Jewish neighbourhoods in recent weeks.

The body, which is based in MI5 but makes independent assessments, previously set the threat level at “substantial”, meaning an attack was “likely”.

Police Scotland said there is “nothing to suggest a specific threat to Scotland”.

However, they have warned the public to remain alert and to report anything suspicious.

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston, Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism, said: “Today the Home Secretary announced an increase in the UK’s Terrorism Threat Level to Severe, meaning an attack is now highly likely.

“This decision has been made in response to a series of recent attacks on Jewish communities and a terror attack declared in north London yesterday (29 April). I want to stress that there is no intelligence to suggest any specific threat to Scotland.

“However, I do want to take this opportunity to urge the public to remain alert but not alarmed. You should remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to Police Scotland.”

Police Scotland can be contacted on 101 or in an emergency you should always dial 999.

The decision is not solely a result of the Golders Green attack, the Home Office said, adding that the terrorist threat level in the UK has been “rising for some time, driven by an increase in broader Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the UK”.

It also comes against a backdrop of “increased state-linked physical threats which is encouraging acts of violence, including against the Jewish community”, it added.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said officers have seen an “elevated threat” to the Jewish community.

Speaking outside New Scotland Yard, he said: “Our casework is increasing across a number of ideologies, and within that, we are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK.

“We’re also working against an unpredictable global situation that has consequences closer to home, including physical threats by state-linked actors.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood urged people to be “vigilant”.

“I know this will be a source of concern to many, particularly amongst our Jewish community, who have suffered so much,” she said.

“As the threat level rises, I urge everyone to be vigilant, as they go about their daily lives, and report any concerns they have to the police. And I can assure everyone that our world-class security services and the police are working, day and night, to keep our country safe.”

The last time the level was raised to severe was in November 2021 after two attacks in the space of a month, with a bombing outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday and the murder of Conservative MP for Southend West Sir David Amess in October.

Police tasered and arrested a 45-year-old man after the double stabbing which saw two Jewish men – Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76, named locally as Moshe Shine – taken to hospital.