Starmer in Downing Street this morning:
“Security is essential, but that is not enough. We must also deal with the forces that drive this hatred in the first place, so we’re confronting them directly. One of the lines of inquiry is whether a foreign state has been behind some of these incidents. We’re investigating, of course, all the possibilities and we’re clear that these actions will have consequences if that proves to be the case.
“Our message to Iran, or to any other country that might seek to foment violence, hatred or division in society, is that it will not be tolerated. That is why we passed legislation to tackle these malign threats. We’re clear-eyed about the fact that antisemitism does not have one source alone: Islamists, far left, far right extremism, all target Jewish communities.
“That is why this Government has put in place the first co-ordinated national plan to strengthen cohesion and confront extremism in all of its forms.”
News of yet another suspected arson attack on a synagogue broke as Starmer was speaking…
Speaking to Adam Boulton on Times Radio about kicking the Golders Green suspect, Heidi Alexander said:
“I thought that if I was in the shoes of that police officer, then if I’m honest, given the situation, and the fact that he had a backpack on his back, and they were worried about whether that might go off, I could, if I was a police officer, frankly, I could see myself having taken similar action.”