U.K. Raises National Terror Threat to 'Severe' After Golders Green Stabbing

The U.K. raised its national terror threat level from SUBSTANTIAL to SEVERE on Thursday, the first such increase since 2021, after authorities declared the Golders Green stabbings a terrorist incident and warned of a broader rise in threats from Islamist extremists, the extreme right wing and hostile states.

The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, the body that sets the U.K.’s national terror threat level, made the change on April 30. The government said SEVERE means “an attack is highly likely in the next six months.” It said the increase followed Wednesday’s stabbing in north-west London but “is not solely a result of that attack,” citing a wider rise in threats from individuals and small groups in the U.K. as well as “increased state-linked physical threats.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Yesterday’s abhorrent, antisemitic attack was a vile act of terrorism. … Today, the national threat level has increased to ‘severe’, which means a terrorist attack is considered highly likely. … The Government has today announced a significant increase in investment to protect our Jewish communities, with record funding for policing and security at synagogues, schools and community centres.”

The Golders Green attack happened at 11:16 a.m. on April 29 on Highfield Avenue in Barnet, in the Golders Green area of north-west London, according to Counter Terrorism Policing and the Metropolitan Police. Two men, aged 76 and 34, were stabbed, treated at the scene and taken to a hospital.

Police said a 45-year-old man was Tasered and arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder and remained in custody. Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said: “I can also confirm that this has now formally been declared a terrorist incident.”

Authorities said one line of inquiry is whether the attack was intended to target London’s Jewish community. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “This is another horrendous act of violence directed at our Jewish communities... ”

In response, the government announced an extra 25 million pounds in funding to protect Jewish communities, taking the total for this year to 58 million pounds. It said the money would support policing, patrols and protective security at synagogues, schools and community centers, and expand Project Servator, a policing tactic aimed at disrupting hostile activity and reassuring the public.

The government also said it would fast-track legislation in the coming weeks to clamp down on hostile activity for foreign states. Under the National Security Act, it said, the measures would give the home secretary new “proscription-like powers” to disrupt state-backed organizations and their proxies.

The U.K. was last at SEVERE in November 2021 and was lowered to SUBSTANTIAL in February 2022, according to the government. The move comes amid sustained concern about antisemitic violence: the Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors antisemitism and provides security advice, reported 3,700 antisemitic incidents in 2025 and said incidents have remained at historically high levels since Oct. 7, 2023. The investigation into the Golders Green attack is continuing.