Can I just say thank you to you all for coming in at short notice
for this really important discussion about criminal justice in
the aftermath of an appalling attack last night in Golders Green,
a terror attack in Golders Green. It is important that we come
together very quickly now to take the necessary action.
What we saw last night was people being targeted because they are
Jewish. I am absolutely clear about that and of course our
thoughts are with the victims, and we wish them a speedy
recovery, and with their families and loved ones.
And of course with the volunteers and first responders who
were quite incredible in their response yesterday. But there is
no getting away from the fact that this was not a one-off.
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.
I went to Kenton Synagogue last week and heard first-hand from
some in the synagogue who of course had been subject to an attack
there.
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.
Now yesterday, as you probably saw, I chaired a COBR meeting,
which some around the table were at. That was dealing
predominantly with our immediate response and how we coordinate
that response. But also about what enhanced security and other
measures need to go in place.
And we've already got enhanced funding in place. That's been
there for some time. But we're uplifting that, as has been
announced this morning.
We are fast-tracking legislation to deal with malign state
actors. And of course we must absolutely deal with the root
causes of both antisemitism and extremism. But today is about
part of the response, which is really important, which is the
criminal justice response.
Because a number of people have been arrested, a number are going
through the criminal justice system. And it's really important
that we are able collectively to demonstrate that the response
will be swift and visible. And that's why I wanted to get you
around the table today.
I do recognise and respect the various independence that's
carried by people around the table. I understand it. I respect
it. And we can operate within that framework. But I do think
there's a wider duty on all of us, in terms of the confidence in
the criminal justice system, to be able to deal with appalling
attacks like this, to show that it can act in a swift, agile, and
visible way. And I look forward to a discussion with you on how
we make that happen.
I want to make a wider point here because it's often said, after
an attack like that, a terror attack, an appalling attack, an
antisemetic attack last night, 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. So this is our fight and it is really important, I
think, that we broaden it in that way.
ENDS
FOR INFO, IN ATTENDANCE:
The Rt Hon , Home Secretary
The Rt Hon , Lord Chancellor and Secretary
of State for Justice and Deputy Prime Minister
The Rt Hon KC, Attorney General
KC MP, Minister of State for
Courts and Legal Services
Sir Mark Rowley, Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Laurence Taylor, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Metropolitan
Police Service
, Director of Public
Prosecutions, Crown Prosecution Service
Lord Justice Green, Senior Presiding Judge
Nick Goodwin, CEO HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Michelle Haslem, Director General, National Security Group
, CEO, Judicial Office
, Second Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Justice
MBE MP, Minister of State (Minister for Security)
