Synagogue attacker who killed two was a ‘terrorist targeting Jews because they are Jews’, says Starmer – latest updates

Starmer: synagogue knifeman ‘attacked Jews because they are Jews’

Keir Starmer condemned a “terrorist attack that attacked Jews because they are Jews”, committed by “a vile individual”.

Speaking from Downing Street after a Cobra meeting, the prime minister said:

Earlier today, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day for the Jewish community, a vile individual committed a terrorist attack that attacked Jews because they are Jews, and attacked Britain because of our values.

So many Jewish families first came to this country as a place of refuge, fleeing the greatest evil ever inflicted on a people, and Britain welcomed them.

Communities like the one attacked in Manchester provided safety, but also the security that comes from a promise that this is a country that stands up to hatred and that we don’t just provide refuge, we provide a home.

Starmer said the Jewish community in Britain will see a “more visible police presence” as he promised to do “everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve”.

He added:

To every Jewish person in this country, I also want to say this. I know how much fear you will be holding inside of you. I really do.

And so on behalf of our country, I express my solidarity, but also my sadness that you still have to live with these fears. 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.

And I promise you that this Britain will come together to wrap our arms around your community and show you that Britain is a place where you and your family are safe, secure and belong.

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Vikram Dodd

The investigation is still trying to locate and examine all of the suspect’s electronic devices, looking for clues as to what radicalised him. Increasingly key is what material on the internet was consumed, as well as any searches for targets and attack planning before he staged Thursday’s atrocity, as well as whom he was in contact with. At this early stage of the investigation, detectives and other investigators suspect an Islamist motive but are looking for evidence to confirm or rebut that theory.

The shooting dead of the suspect has to by law be investigated independently by the Independent Office of Police Conduct, and the police watchdog confirmed it had started work.

Hannah Al-Othman

Bishop of Manchester David Walker said he first knew something had happened when he heard the police response. “I live only five minutes drive away from here, the first we knew was we heard the helicopters flying overhead,” he said, “and we knew that’s not a good sign when you hear that in the morning.”

“I know the Rabbi here,” he added, and said stories of the Rabbi, Daniel Walker, stepping in to aid congregants in the aftermath were “entirely in character,” describing him as “a good man, a lovely man,” who “would do what he could to protect his people.”

“I know lots of the people who live in this community, and I just feel for them in their shock at what’s been done to them,” he said. “We’re living in a time of increased tensions as we know. I think the communities in Manchester have been good at pulling together in times of crisis. We did that in 2017 when we had the Arena attack, we worked hard to show that you don’t beat hatred by showing more hate, you beat hatred by showing love. I hope that’s what we will do this time round.”

“The people who do these kind of atrocities, they want to divide us, that’s the whole point of it,” he added. “They want to drive us apart from each other. So the best defiance we can show is to be even more united, even more determined to hold together than we were before.”

Hannah Al-Othman

Manchester Rusholme MP Afzal Khan, who lives close to the synagogue, said he was “shocked and horrified” when he heard about the attack. “It’s horrific, it’s terrible, nobody wants to see this,” he said. “And this is not what reflects Manchester, this is not what Manchester is all about.”

He said that different faith communities in the area typically coexist peacefully. “In Manchester we have experience of difficult circumstances, and we’ve seen how we come together,” he said. “We also have experience of celebrating together, sharing of activities, festivals together. I’m someone who has done more than three decades of work of bringing communities together here in Greater Manchester.”

“I would say people get on,” he said, “this actually is out of place, that’s why I found it so shocking, and why I found it so horrific.”

The mayor of Greater Manchester , Andy Burnham, condemned the terrorist attack on a synagogue in the city as “an horrific antisemitic attack on our Jewish friends and neighbours” and urged people to “stand together in these difficult times”.

Giving a statement to reporters at the scene, Burnham said: “Tonight, our first thoughts are with the families of those people who died, those injured and those traumatised by this, an horrific antisemitic attack on our Jewish friends and neighbours. We condemn it outright.

“Greater Manchester will never stand aside when one of our communities is attacked. We ask everyone to show solidarity to the Jewish community this weekend, and already, we’ve mobilised through our interfaith network messages of support and solidarity through places of worship.”

He added: “We always will stand together here in Greater Manchester, and we will never let acts that are designed to cause hatred, division in our communities, violence – we will never let them succeed, and that’s our message tonight to everybody across Greater Manchester: Do not let them succeed. Respond by reaching out, by redoubling efforts to work together and stand together in these difficult times.”

He praised emergency services responding to the terrorist attack on a synagogue for what he called “an exemplary blue light response”.

Updated at 20.07 CEST

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government “will do whatever is required to keep our Jewish community safe”.

She said: “I am horrified by the antisemitic terrorist attack at a synagogue on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. My prayers are with the victims and the families of all of those who are murdered here today.

“I want to thank the police and all of the emergency services for the speed of their response and also for their considerable bravery. The government has stepped up security at synagogues across the whole of the country, and we will do whatever is required to keep our Jewish community safe.

“I know that there are many questions that are still to be answered, and rest assured, they will be answered as quickly as possible, it will just take a little time for us to establish exactly what has happened here, but we will share more information as soon as we are able to.

“What I do want to say is to those who seek to divide us, they will fail.”

Updated at 20.06 CEST

Suspect’s name ‘not in initial counter-terrorism searches’

Vikram Dodd

The suspect’s name does not appear in initial searches of counter terrorism systems, sources tell the Guardian.

He is not thought to have been under current terrorist investigation and further checks are being carried out to see if counter terrorism officials knew anything at all, such as his name or details appearing on the periphery of other investigations.

Updated at 20.07 CEST

Vikram Dodd

The suspect was shot dead after armed officers spotted what seemed to be a bomb belt on him. The fake bomb belt technique has been used in two previous Islamist attacks in Britain. They were Fishmonger’s Hall in 2019 and London Bridge in 2017, in both cases the attackers were shot dead, with the fake devices cobbled together by the terrorists.

Hannah Al-Othman

Rob Kanter, 45, a university lecturer with a PhD in Jewish Muslim relations, was inside the synagogue at the time of the attack.

“We’d already made sure that the doors and windows were shut,” he said, when they heard a commotion outside. Then he said they heard shots, before the police came in to escort them to safety. “The police came in, we were taken out from the main part of the synagogue, and then, of course, we were taken out of the premises,” he said.

When he first heard the shots, Kanter said, he felt “bewildered, because I think the adrenaline kicks in” and then found himself questioning “am I really hearing this?”

His first response then he said was “how are we going to keep ourselves and everyone else safe?” But he said the mood inside the synagogue was “actually relatively calm” as the attack unfolded outside.

“I would say the mood amongst our fellow congregants was very calm, and everyone deals with these things in their own way,” he said. “Some people get through this in a very quiet way, others like to talk, some people even try and use an element of humour just to keep themselves going.

“So I would say that people all respond in their different ways, but generally, everyone was very calm and dignified.”

Kanter said that once they were evacuated by police, the Rabbi did his best to continue with the Yom Kippur service. “We continued to do part of the service,” he said, “because at the end of the day, because it’s awkward, and it’s difficult, people have got a multitude of emotions going on, but we carried on, and did not the whole service, but we did what we could in the circumstances.”

“At the end of the day,” he added, “our Rabbi’s role was to try and say, yes, this is a terrible tragedy, but we want to try where possible to remember today as Yom Kippur, and we did as much as we could as a group.”

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “Israel grieves with the Jewish community in the UK after the barbaric terror attack in Manchester.

“Our hearts are with the families of the murdered, and we pray for the swift recovery of the wounded.

“As I warned at the UN: weakness in the face of terrorism only brings more terrorism.

“Only strength and unity can defeat it.”

Updated at 20.04 CEST

Ben Quinn

Police have asked organisers to postpone a mass protest against the ban on Palestine Action so resources can be used to protect Jewish and Muslim communities after the terror attack at a Manchester synagogue.

Defend Our Juries, the group which has been organising the protests in London, said it intended to go ahead with its action on Saturday, and it urged the police to focus on protecting those communities fearing reprisals or follow-up terror attacks.

“We urge you to choose to prioritise protecting the community, rather than arresting those peacefully holding signs in opposition to the absurd and draconian ban of a domestic direct action group,” Defend Our Juries told the Metropolitan police in a letter of reply

The protest in London on Saturday could set a record for the number of people arrested at a single event of civil disobedience, according to organisers. They said they had received 1,500 pledges to attend the demonstration and risk arrest and were expecting hundreds more to register by the weekend.

A letter sent by the Metropolitan police to Defend Our Juries after the attack in Manchester – in which two members of the Jewish community died and four were left in a serious condition by a man who was shot dead by officers – said the event in London would require “a significant policing plan”.

“Following the horrific and tragic events that have taken place in Manchester this morning, the details of which are still developing, the Met is stepping up reassurance and protective security operations across the capital with a particular focus on London’s Jewish and Muslim communities,” said the letter, which was in the name of deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan.

“However, as you know your previous large-scale events and other concurrent protests place a significant pressure on policing and draw officers away from the communities they serve to be in central London. This means less neighbourhood and response officers in their communities and less officers focusing on serious crimes.”

The Jewish community in Britain has faced “an increase in the climate of intimidation and fear,” Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said.

She told the PA news agency:

I’m absolutely horrified by these attacks. I think it’s a disgusting and vile act.

I cannot imagine how tough it must be for all the people affected. And my condolences go out to the families of the people who’ve lost their lives and those who are so seriously injured.

And one of my core beliefs is that we need to make sure that Britain is a safe country for Jewish people. Many people fled the Holocaust in Europe. They found sanctuary in the UK. We need to make sure that we continue to be a safe place for Jewish people.

And we what we have seen over the last few years, especially since October 7, is an increase in the climate of intimidation and fear, an increase in antisemitism.

Britain must defeat rising antisemitism, Keir Starmer has said.

Giving a statement from 10 Downing Street, he said:

Britain is also a country where Jewish buildings, synagogues, even schools require round the clock protection, where dedicated specialist security is necessary because of the daily threat of antisemitic hatred.

Today’s horrific incident shows why. And while this is not a new hate, this is something Jews have always lived with, we must be clear, it is a hatred that is rising once again, and Britain must defeat it once again.

On behalf of the nation, I want to offer my condolences to the families and victims affected. I want to thank the Greater Manchester police, the first responders and those dedicated security specialists, there is no doubt whatsoever that they have prevented an even greater tragedy, and we thank them for their bravery.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking at 10 Downing Street, central London, following the incident at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester. Photograph: James Manning/PAShare

Updated at 18.57 CEST

Libby Brooks

Police Scotland has confirmed it is carrying out additional patrols around synagogues and other Jewish venues as part of their existing policing plan for the Jewish High Holy Days, adding there is no intelligence to suggest any specific similar threat in Scotland.

Assistant chief constable Stuart Houston, lead for Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism in Scotland, said:

Our thoughts are with the Jewish community, the victims, families, and everyone affected by the incident in Manchester.

Following the incident, we are actively communicating with faith leaders and community leaders.

While there is no intelligence to suggest any specific threat in Scotland, I want to take this opportunity to ask the public to remain alert but not alarmed.

Speaking after First Minister’s Questions earlier this afternoon, John Swinney told journalists that safety at places of worship was a “significant concern” and that Police Scotland would work with communities in the aftermath of the incident.

Swinney said:

There is absolutely no place for violence in our society, and there certainly is no place for violence in relation to the Jewish community, particularly people who are engaged in worship at an incredibly sensitive time of the year”.

Individuals must be able to live in safety in our country, and they must be able to worship in safety.

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