Conservative peer Lord Stanley Fink has described the Manchester synagogue stabbings as “a truly dark day for Britain,” warning that the tragedy is the culmination of growing hate marches and rising anti-Semitism.
Speaking to GB News, Lord Fink, who grew up just minutes from the synagogue and was a member there for a decade, said Jewish communities had feared such an attack was coming.
He told Martin Daubney on GB News: "I think it is a dark day. But sadly, many of us have seen something like this coming, although I would never have predicted it would happen there, and in this way.
"With hate marches on the streets every week in every major city, I saw something was brewing."
Lord Stanley Fink has described the Manchester synagogue stabbings as 'a truly dark day for Britain'
|GB NEWS
The assault began when an individual drove a vehicle towards pedestrians before launching a stabbing attack outside the place of worship.
Two members of the public have died and three are in hospital in a serious condition, according to Greater Manchester Police.
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Lord Fink added: "For our police and authorities to allow those marches every single week in the busiest parts of London is madness. I simply don’t understand why it's permitted.
Martin said: And yet, they’ve been allowed — and they’re going on right now, not just in London but also in Manchester.
"Sir Keir Starmer addressed the nation earlier, offering his condolences to the families, and his response was to promise more security.
"But I’ve been speaking with Jewish people throughout the day. and many say they don’t want more security, that security is an admission of failure. So what do we really need to do?"
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Lord Fink responded: "I think we need to take a balanced view. The Jewish community has been in Britain for several hundred years and, by and large, I’d say 95 per cent have integrated incredibly well.
"Personally, I regard myself as more British than Jewish, if I’m honest.
"But I don’t think that’s true of some later arrivals. Particularly among more recent immigrants, there has been a lack of full integration."
Speaking after an emergency Cobra meeting, the Prime Minister paid tribute to Britain’s Jewish community, recalling how "so many Jewish families first came to this country as a place of refuge, fleeing the greatest evil ever inflicted on a people."
Keir Starmer addressed the nation earlier today where he said 'hatred was rising once again'
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He said: "Communities like the one attacked in Manchester provided safety, but also the security that comes from a promise that this is a country that stands up to hatred. We don’t just provide refuge, we provide a home."
But Sir Starmer acknowledged that synagogues and schools still face "round-the-clock protection" because of "the daily threat of antisemitic hatred".
He warned that such hatred is "rising once again" and declared that "Britain must defeat it once again".
Offering condolences to the victims and their families, the Prime Minister also thanked Greater Manchester Police, first responders and security teams for their swift response.
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