Met Deploys 100 Officers for London Jewish Communities

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley announced a new 100-officer Community Protection Team dedicated to London's Jewish communities, drawing officers from neighbourhood policing, specialist protection and counter-terrorism. The unit follows a series of arson attacks on Jewish sites in London — including synagogues, a Jewish ambulance charity and a memorial wall in Golders Green — and a recent Golders Green double stabbing being treated as an act of terrorism. The Met logged 140 antisemitic hate crimes across the capital in April, up from 98 in March and 67 in February — the highest monthly total since the force changed its recording method in March 2024; Barnet, which includes Golders Green, Hendon and Finchley, accounted for 51 of those offences. About 50 people have been arrested in the recent series, with eight charged. The unit is funded from £18 million of a £25 million Home Office protective-policing package, which has already paid for around 1,000 additional officer shifts per week. Rowley framed the team as a "model that can support other communities across London when facing elevated risk."

Campaigning closed on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's local and devolved elections, the biggest set of votes since the 2024 general election. More than 5,000 seats are contested on 136 English councils, alongside six mayoralties, an expanded Senedd in Wales and the Scottish Parliament. Reform UK and Plaid Cymru are competing to become the largest party in the Senedd; the SNP is seeking a fifth consecutive Holyrood victory.

Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset, speaking in London, warned that withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights would place the UK in a group with Russia and Belarus — the only European countries not party to the treaty — and said the choice was Britain's, but came with "consequences." The opposition Conservatives and Reform UK have pledged to quit the ECHR if they win the next general election, citing migration concerns.

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, the former NATO Secretary General who led the Strategic Defence Review, told MPs on 27 April that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had still not launched the promised national conversation on defence and security — recommendation 26 of his review. Robertson said he had reminded the PM on a couple of occasions and warned that NATO expects a potential armed attack within three years, making the delay a matter of urgency.

A review of the Police Service of Northern Ireland's handling of the death of 21-year-old showjumper Katie Simpson found institutional misogyny and systemic failures. Simpson's death was initially treated as suicide; her sister's partner Jonathan Creswell was later charged with her murder but took his own life in 2024. The review identified 37 other alleged victims of Creswell and criticised multiple agencies for failures, severely shaking confidence in policing in Northern Ireland and prompting calls for reform.