Britain is going backwards in the fight against Islamism and anti-Semitism

After the latest Manchester outrage, Keir Starmer and his Party must be accountable for their actions

Britain spends billions keeping its citizens safe, and not just from hostile states like Iran and Russia. We spend £1.2 billion a year on counter-terrorism policing, and £4.5 billion a year on the security and intelligence agencies, while the many hidden costs stack up. Martyn’s Law – the new duty for owners of premises to prepare plans for terror attacks – is expected to cost business up to £5 billion.

And the main terrorist danger we face remains Islamist. It was not the Far Right who attacked London Bridge, it was not Hindu nationalists who murdered innocent children at the Manchester Arena, and it was not lonely incels who blew up trains and buses on 7 July 2005. The details of the latest terrorist atrocity – at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester – are not yet confirmed, but the attacker was Jihad al-Shamie, a Muslim from Syria, whose family were supporters of the 7 October attacks by Hamas on Israel.

The police have confirmed al-Shamie was motivated by Islamist ideology - but no government minister has been prepared to say the same. The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have mouthed platitudes about standing “shoulder to shoulder” with Britain’s Jews, but said nothing about al-Shamie’s motivation or ideology, nor the rancid swamp of anti-Semitism in which Britain is now drowning.

Yet a recent study showed a quarter of people living here hold anti-Semitic views, and research shows anti-Semitic attitudes are more prominent among British Muslims than others. Since the 7 October attacks, the rolling anti-Israel protests have seen campaigners openly express anti-Semitic hatred without challenge. The Muslim men who drove through Jewish neighbourhoods in London threatening to “rape their daughters” were never prosecuted.