Leaders from across society were brought together in Downing Street to drive forward progress on tackling antisemitism in all its forms.

The Government had been taking action to protect Jewish communities and tackle antisemitism since coming into power. Following the despicable antisemitic terrorist attack in London the previous week, a spate of serious arson attacks in recent weeks, and the terrorist attack in Heaton Park in October, the Government was committed to accelerating a whole-of-society response to antisemitism.

The Prime Minister convened the event, which was attended by leaders from the business, civil society, health, culture, higher education and policing sectors, where he asked attendees to reflect on the forms antisemitism took in their sector, the work they were already doing to tackle it, and how they could go further at pace. Each sector spent the morning in an individual roundtable meeting, chaired by a Minister.

Opening the event, the Prime Minister was expected to say that every part of society needed to stand up together and refuse to platform hatred or turn a blind eye to extremism.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
Last week’s terrorist attack in Golders Green was utterly appalling. But it was not an isolated incident. It was part of a pattern of rising antisemitism that had left our Jewish communities feeling frightened, angry, and asking whether this country, their home, was safe for them.

These disgusting attacks were made against British Jews. But make no mistake, this crisis was a crisis for all of us. It was a test of our values—values that were not guaranteed, but earned every single day through our actions.

So, it was not enough to simply say we stood with Jewish communities. We had to show it. And that responsibility lay with each and every one of us. That was what that day was about. Because only by working together could we eradicate antisemitism from every corner of society.

The Prime Minister also convened Ministers that afternoon for a Middle East Response Committee meeting focused on the domestic security implications of the conflict in the Middle East, in particular the heightened threat to Jewish communities in light of recent attacks.

That day’s event built on commitments made in recent days to accelerate work to confront extremism, protect the Jewish community and strengthen cohesion.

This included announcing an additional £25 million in funding to increase police patrols, enhance security at synagogues, schools and community centres, and deploy specialist and plain-clothes officers in communities to prevent serious harm before it occurred. It brought the total funding to £58 million that year—the largest investment a Government had made in protecting Jewish communities in history.

The Government also fast-tracked legislation to counter malign actions against the Jewish community by state actors and strengthened the response of the justice system by working to speed up sentencing for antisemitic offences. A further £7 million investment was allocated to tackle antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities.

Source: gov.uk