Aussie travellers warned as Britain raises terror threat level to 'severe'

Two Jewish men stabbed in London terror attack

Australian travellers have been cautioned to stay vigilant when visiting the United Kingdom after the government raised the terrorism threat following the stabbing of two Jewish men in London.

Britain upgraded its national terrorism threat level from "substantial" to "severe" the day after the antisemitic stabbing attack, the second-highest level out of five, which means intelligence agencies believe a terrorist attack in the next six months is highly likely.

Australians visiting Britain have been urged to exercise a high degree of caution as tensions flare in London.

Britain upgraded its national terrorism threat level from

Australians visiting Britain have been urged to exercise a high degree of caution.

"Be alert to the risks and take official warnings seriously", the government's Smartraveller service warned.

The terrorism level in the UK is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and the Security Service (MI5).

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Jewish people are living in fear in the wake of the attack, which police have called an act of terrorism with potential links to Iran.

"People are scared, scared to show who they are in their community, scared to go to synagogue and practise their religion, scared to go to university as a Jew, to send their children to school as a Jew, to tell their colleagues that they are Jewish, even to use our NHS," Starmer said yesterday.

"Nobody should live like that in Britain, but Jews do."

He vowed security measures would change in the wake of the attack in Golders Green in north London.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was heckled by the crowd as his motorcade rolled past.

Starmer shakes hands with first responders at the scene.

Starmer heckled at terror attack site

Starmer has been heckled by about 100 protesters holding signs saying "Keir Starmer, Jew harmer" as he visited the site where two Jewish men were stabbed in a terrorist attack.

The prime minister said in response that "I absolutely understand the high levels of anxiety and concern that there are."

"Antisemitism is an old, old hatred. History shows that the roots are deep, and if you turn away, it grows back," he said during a televised statement at 10 Downing St.

"Yet far too many people in this country diminish it."

Police forensic officers search the area after two Jewish men were stabbed in north London on Wednesday, April 29.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets members of the Jewish community in Golders Green following following the attack in Golders Green/

A 45-year-old man, who is also accused of trying to stab police officers, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Two men – one in his 70s and one in his 30s – were injured in the attack in Golders Green and are in a stable condition in hospital, police added.

No officers were injured.

Police have declared the attack an act of terrorism as officers study a claim by a group known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, that it was behind the attacks.

Israel's government has described the group, as a recently founded group with suspected links to "an Iranian proxy" that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Protestors in Golders Green hold placards accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer of being soft on antisemitic attacks.. (Photo by Le

An online claim in the same name also took responsibility for Wednesday's stabbing. But security experts say the name may be a flag of convenience rather than a coherent group, and its claims should be treated with caution.

However, the UK has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting Iranian opposition media outlets and the Jewish community.

Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 "potentially lethal" Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year ending in October.

"This has now formally been declared a terrorist incident," London's head of counterterrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, said in a statement. Police are investigating "whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community in London," he added.

Counterterrorism officers are leading the investigation and working to establish the suspect's nationality, background and any terrorist links, police said.

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