Pro-Palestine marches MUST be stopped following Golders Green attack, terrorism watchdog says

His remarks came after two Jewish men, Nachman Moshe ben Chaya Sarah, and Moshe Ben Baila, were stabbed in what the Metropolitan Police described as a terrorist incident.

Mr Hall told Times Radio: "We are now at a point at which the Government starts to need to start to take more risks as to what it’s prepared to do.

"It’s not simply enough to offer thoughts and prayers and to support the police investigation."

Sir Keir Starmer has not yet visited the site, but said it was an "appalling attack" and said he would visit the community as soon as possible.

Mr Hall added: "It pains me to say this, but I think we may have reached a point where we need to have a moratorium on the sorts of marches that have been happening.

"It’s clearly impossible at the moment for any of these pro-Palestine marches not to incubate within them some sort of antisemitic or demonising language."

Sir Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said the antisemitism within the capital was higher than he had ever seen.

The Mayor said: "I've lived in London all my life. There's been antisemitism faced by Londoners throughout my life.

"But I've never seen this sort of fear. My friends, colleagues and neighbours have never experienced this level of attacks on Jewish people across our country."

Protesters chanted "shame on Sadiq Khan" as they marched in Golders Green after the attack, with Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, Laila Cunningham, the party’s candidate for London Mayor, and Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary in attendance.

Mr Hall also described the increase in antisemitism as a "massive national security emergency".

He said: "I don’t think I can think of a bigger national security emergency happening in the UK since 2017 in terms of the attacks in Manchester and London and in fact you might say it’s the biggest national emergency since Covid.

"I go back in my mind to how the government then responded to 7/7... and I think the Prime Minister said that the rules of the game have changed, and I think it’s perhaps fair to say that we are now at a point at which the government needs to start to take more risks as to what it’s prepared to do, and that it’s not simply enough to offer thoughts and prayers and to support the police investigation."

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has also called for a crackdown, warning that protests can "contribute to a tone of antisemitism".

He said: "We also need zero tolerance of antisemitism, with regard to hate marches, with regard to antisemitism in all its forms, on university campuses, within the NHS, together with the purposeful anti-Israel demonisation which sometimes takes place, which contributes to a tone of antisemitism, which is in our country.

"And when you have hate speech, it’s only one step away from hate action, as we saw today."

The attack in Golders Green follows a series of arson attacks on Jewish sites in London since late March, with responsibility for the incidents claimed by a group known as Hayi, believed to be backed by Iran.

The calls for a moratorium follow the Government defending its proscription of Palestine Action in front of a five-judge panel at the Court of Appeal.

The Metropolitan Police reversed its position on the group on March 25, and now arrests people supporting it, after the High Court found the group's ban to be unlawful in February.

That ruling forced the Met to briefly stop arresting those supporting the group.

On Tuesday, the Government defended its proscription of the group, with lawyer Sir James Eadie KC saying: "Palestine Action met the statutory definition of being concerned in terrorism.

"The Secretary of State's expert advice was that Palestine Action's activities were on an escalating trajectory of seriousness."