One of UK’s most senior Jewish politicians has said he and the Jewish community are “heartbroken, frightened and angry” after the terror attack on a Manchester synagogue.
Richard Hermer, the attorney general and a close ally of Keir Starmer in cabinet, said tackling a rising tide of antisemitism would require police protection and political leaders calling it out wherever it was found.
The country’s most senior lawyer made the intervention in Jewish News, saying more must be done to tackle antisemitism and to bring communities together.
“We are heartbroken. We are frightened. We are angry. The rising tide of antisemitism has been plain for all to see yet is too often explained away,” he wrote.
“British Jews are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for the same thing every family, of every faith, should expect: to live and worship freely, without fear. That means, tragically in these times, police on the ground. It means protecting our schools and synagogues. And it means leaders in every party and community calling out antisemitism wherever it appears.”
He said stepping up protections for Jewish communities was the right response but it “cannot be the end of the conversation”.
“The focus will not just be on security and justice but on how we can bring communities together to heal from this. This government is determined to build a country where no minority has to live in fear and where antisemitism is confronted without hesitation, without qualification and without excuse.”
Starmer issued a message to Jewish people on Thursday night pledging to “wrap arms” around the community in the wake of the attack.
In a recorded message, Starmer said: “I know how much fear you will be holding inside of you. I really do … Nobody should have to do that. Nobody.
“And so I promise you that I will do everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve, starting with a more visible police presence, protecting your community. I promise you that over the coming days you will see the other Britain, the Britain of compassion, of decency, of love.”
Starmer, whose wife, Victoria, is Jewish, made tackling antisemitism in Labour a major priority after he became party leader.
