The man suspected of carrying out a knife attack in north London was previously referred to the Government’s counter-extremism programme, police have said, as Sir Keir Starmer was heckled on a visit to the site.
The 45-year-old was born in Somalia and came to the UK legally as a child in the 1990s, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said earlier on Thursday.
The Metropolitan Police said he was known to Prevent and that a referral had been made in 2020 which was closed in the same year.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the force said: “Given the investigation remains ongoing, we will not be providing any further information in respect of this matter at this time and we remain focused on securing justice for the victims of this attack.”
Police across the country have stepped up patrols in response to the double stabbing that saw two Jewish men – Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76, named locally as Moshe Shine – taken to hospital.
The suspect was detained and arrested by officers in Golders Green following the suspected terror attack. He is a British citizen, police have said.
The Prime Minister faced chants of “Keir Starmer, Jew harmer” from around 100 poster-waving protesters as he arrived at a Golders Green Jewish community ambulance centre on Thursday afternoon, with more heckling on his way out.
One of the demonstrators, Niaz Maleknia, 57, told the Press Association Sir Keir had “done nothing but stand in the way of Donald Trump and Israel” and needed “waking up”.
The Labour leader, who was joined by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and local MP Sarah Sackman, held a roundtable with first responders and leaders from Jewish volunteer groups Shomrim and Hatzola, whose ambulances were targeted in an arson attack last month.
He told them how much he “appreciated” their response to the double stabbing, which he said “could have been a lot worse” had it not been for their work.
Sir Keir earlier said the criminal justice response to the attack in north London must be “swift, agile and visible” as extra funding was announced to increase security for Jewish communities.
In a meeting with representatives including Met chief Sir Mark in Downing Street on Thursday morning, he said the Government and agencies must “come together very quickly” to take the necessary action.
Meanwhile, a further £25 million will be invested to boost police patrols and protections around synagogues, schools and community centres, taking the total commitment this year to £58 million.
Legislation creating proscription-like powers to pursue people and organisations acting on behalf of malign state-sponsored groups will also be “fast-tracked” in the coming weeks, ministers have said in the wake of the attack.
The Press Association understands the plans will be included in the King’s Speech setting out the Government’s legislative agenda for the coming parliamentary session on May 13.
The stabbings are the latest in a series of attacks on Jewish sites over recent weeks and have prompted calls for urgent action and accusations the Government has not done enough to tackle antisemitism.
The Home Secretary signalled she would consider banning the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an Iranian military group, as she faced questions about the new laws.
Speaking to broadcasters on Thursday morning, she said it would be inappropriate to confirm such a move before the laws are on the statute books, but that she would be looking at “all organisations that would then fall within the purview” of the legislation.
“Just to reassure you, the only reason I’m not giving a wider commentary on who this will include is because we would never give any commentary on organisations that we are considering for either our proscription regime … or indeed, this new regime,” she told Sky News.
“I expect to be making decisions in the very near future about the groups that we will be designating as state-linked.”
Mr Rand, the younger victim of Wednesday’s attack, told ITV: “People are really afraid, people are uncomfortable walking in the streets.
“People are blaming obviously the Government. You know they aren’t doing anything about what’s going on for the past few months.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis called for “meaningful action” to tackle the “root causes” of antisemitism while the Board of Deputies of British Jews said antisemitism must be “confronted, punished and deterred with the full force of the state”.
Sir Keir vowed that the Government would address the causes of antisemitism ahead of the meeting with criminal justice agencies on Thursday to discuss the attack and said he would visit Golders Green “as soon as possible”.
But the Prime Minister is facing pressure to go further, including calls to ban pro-Palestinian marches.
Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said it was currently “impossible” for such marches not to “incubate” antisemitism.
Describing recent attacks on Jews as a “massive national security emergency”, he called for a “moratorium” on pro-Palestinian marches.
Ms Mahmood rejected this characterisation, telling BBC Breakfast: “I think the phrase ‘national emergency’ has particular connotations.
“It means that for a period, you change your democracy, and you disapply some elements of our democratic society. I don’t believe this is where we are today.
“But for me this is an absolutely pressing priority. It is an emergency for me as Home Secretary to respond to.”
But Mr Hall’s comments were echoed by the chief rabbi, who said “hate marches” together with “purposeful anti-Israel demonisation” had contributed to “a tone of antisemitism” in the UK.
Opposition politicians have also joined calls to ban the marches, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch saying it was “quite clear they are used as a cover for violence and intimidation against Jews”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel told Jews to leave the UK.
“I have a message to the Jewish community: immigrate to Israel. Come to a place where we can actually protect you, or you can protect yourself,” she said on GB News, as she accused the UK Government of not doing “enough in order to protect and defend” that community.
Meanwhile, police forces across the country said they would step up patrols in Jewish areas in response to Wednesday’s attack.
Greater Manchester Police said it had deployed extra officers around the city, with a “high-visibility presence within our Jewish communities in north Manchester, Bury and Salford”.
West Yorkshire Police and Thames Valley Police both said they would increase patrols to “provide additional reassurance”.
In London, counter-terrorism officers investigating the attack said they were also searching an address in the south east of the city after it was reported the suspect had been involved in a prior “altercation” with another person.
A joint statement from Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams, the regional basic command unit commander, and Barnet Council chief executive Cath Shaw said “significant number of officers” would be in the area to support the investigation.
“This gives police officers temporary powers to stop and search people in the area without needing specific suspicion, where there is a risk of serious violence,” the statement said.
“This is a preventative measure designed to deter further criminality. We were already deploying an increased number of counter-terrorism response vehicles to respond to suspicious activity.”
They said there would be an “increased policing presence in and around schools, transport hubs, high footfall areas and faith venues”.
