PM to give urgent address to the nation imminently

BREAKING

Reports have said that the PM will give a speech "in minutes", as per reports.

ITV's Paul Brand posted on X: "The PM will address the nation from Downing Street in the next few minutes".

Starmer has been no stranger to a speech addressing the nation during his almost two-year tenure at the head of government.

Meanwhile, Politics UK have reported that the PM's address will concern the Golders Green terror attack which took place yesterday.

Thought to concern yesterday's attack

The speech is thought to concern yesterday's Golders Green terrorist attack.

Two men were stabbed on Wednesday morning in Highfield Avenue in Barnet, near Golders Green Road. The victims were named as Moshe Shine, 76, and Shlome Rand, 34.

A 45-year-old man, a British national born in Somalia, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He was initially taken to hospital before being discharged into police custody.

Counter Terrorism Policing Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor confirmed the attack had formally been declared a terrorist incident, with officers investigating whether it was deliberately targeting the Jewish community.

It is the second declared terrorist attack on Britain's Jewish community in seven months, following an attack at Heaton Park Synagogue in October in which two men were killed

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who visited the scene, said the suspect "has a history of serious violence and mental health issues" and was stunned with a Taser after refusing to show his hands to officers who feared he may be carrying an explosive device.

A continuing trend of attacks against Jewish targets

Wednesday's stabbing is the latest in a sustained series of attacks on Jewish targets in London.

In late March, four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green were set ablaze in an attack police are treating as an antisemitic hate crime.

Subsequent incidents included an attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, premises belonging to a Jewish charity, and the Finchley Reform Synagogue.

The Green Party, meanwhile, is facing an escalating reckoning over the conduct of its candidates.

Polanski, who is himself Jewish, has also faced criticism over his response to the Golders Green attack.

He was condemned after reposting content criticising the police officers who subdued the alleged attacker.

The Green leader had retweeted a post describing officers as "repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by a Taser".

Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired a Cobra meeting following the attack and described it as deeply concerning, vowing to deal with "the roots of antisemitism and extremism."

Why has there been an increase in attacks?

With the increase in attacks, it has become evident that community divides are becoming more and more apparent.

Only a matter of days back, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis told the BBC that attacks on the Jewish community are "gathering momentum" following another arson attack reported at a north-west London synagogue.

The rabbi described the attack as cowardly.

The increase in attacks and antisemitism can be attributed largely to continued tensions in the Middle-East as well as actions of political groups having repercussions for larger communities.