UK to fast-track law against malign state actors after terror attack

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday said the Government will fast-track a new law to target “malign state actors “as he chaired a security meeting in the wake of an “antisemitic terrorist attack “in London.

His intervention came as it emerged that the 45-year-old Somalia-born suspect, in custody over the stabbing of two Jewish men at Golders Green on Wednesday, had been referred to the UK’s counter-terrorism programme for extremist views.

The Home Office said he had arrived in the UK as a child migrant before acquiring British citizenship and the police noted a history of “serious violence and mental health issues”.

“There is no getting away from the fact that this was not a one-off, “Starmer said in an opening address during a criminal justice-focused meeting at 10 Downing Street.  “This has been a series of attacks on our Jewish community, particularly in recent weeks. And there is a very deep sense of anxiety, of concern about security, about safety, about identity, frankly.

“So, we have to understand that wider impact and that visceral feeling that many in our Jewish community have. And we have to be really clear that an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on all of us. And we have to approach it in that way, “he said.

Earlier, the Metropolitan Police’s Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism indicated that her teams “remain alive to the threat of Iranian state aggression in the UK” as the conflict in West Asia continues to evolve. There has been concern around the Iranian regime’s “routine use of criminal proxies “and “recruiting violence as a service”. “We are fast-tracking legislation to deal with malign State actors, ”Starmer stated. 

While no further details have been laid out yet, it is expected to mean that anyone acting as a proxy of a state-sponsored group can be investigated and prosecuted under the UK’s National Security Act. 

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also told reporters that a new terror-like law to ban state-backed groups and individuals behind attacks in the UK will be unveiled in the King’s Speech on May 13. The speech will mark the start of a new parliamentary session, spelling out a list of bills the Government hopes to pass into law. 

Starmer added: “After an attack like that, a terror attack, an appalling attack, an antisemitic attack yesterday, it’s often said that we stand with our Jewish community. And we do stand with our Jewish community, of course, we do. “But it’s our fight as well. It’s the fight of everyone in this country, because it’s about what country we want to live in.

So yes, we stand with, we support our Jewish community, of course we do. But we’ve got to make this a bigger fight. It is a fight for what we believe is the kind of country that we ought to and want to live in.” 

The British Government has also announced a further investment of 25 million pounds for increased police patrols and protective security for Jewish communities. It means the total funding stands at 58 million pounds for this year, earmarked for increasing police presence and security at synagogues, schools and community centres as well as specialist and plain-clothed officers within the community.