GPs are demanding an 11 per cent funding rise in the hope of becoming the latest group of public sector workers to secure a cash boost from Sir Keir Starmer.

Family doctors across the country are currently taking part in industrial action after the British Medical Association (BMA) threatened to bring the NHS to a “standstill” to gain increased funding for surgeries.

Leaked letters reveal that the Government has awarded them an above inflation boost of 7.4 per cent – which the BMA has said is insufficient. The union is instead holding out for an uplift of 10.7 per cent in one year, saying this would bring real-terms income back to 2018/19 levels.

It comes as the Government handed train drivers a nearly 15 per cent pay rise over three years on Wednesday in an effort to bring two years of strikes to an end.

However, ministers have refused to say how that pay rise will be funded, raising the prospect of tax increases in the autumn Budget.

On Thursday night, senior Tories accused Labour of allowing pensioners to freeze by cutting winter fuel payments while finding the cash to fund the salary increases for train drivers. 

They also claimed that, by caving into union pressure, Sir Keir had opened the floodgates to fresh pay demands from other public sector workers.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has urged GPs not to take part in the industrial action, saying it would only “punish” patients when the Government wanted to work with doctors to “rebuild the NHS”.

Mr Streeting is seeking to secure Treasury funding for GPs in the October Budget as part of efforts to identify long-term solutions to “general practice sustainability”.

It raises the prospects of talks this autumn to secure a deal with GPs, who are currently taking part in up to 10 forms of protest action, including capping the number of their appointments.

An internal BMA letter, sent to members of its GP committee on Monday, states that the Government has awarded a 7.4 per cent rise for their “global sum” funding – amounting to around £500 million.

The system, which pays practices per head for every patient on their books, is one of a number of ways GPs are funded and provides the majority of their income. The funding covers the running of GP practices, and is supposed to include a six per cent pay boost for doctors and surgery staff.

In the letter, Dr Julius Parker, deputy chairman of the BMA’s GP committee (GPC) writes: “A 7.4 per cent increase is above current inflation. However, it does not meet GPC England’s aim of an uplift that restores real-terms GP Contract income to 2018/19 levels, which we estimate would have required a 10.7 per cent uplift.”

The letter, seen by GPonline, says this is a “reasonable objective” given the recent pay settlements to other doctors. These include hospital consultants, who were given a 20 per cent pay rise for 2023/24.

Junior doctors were last month offered a 22 per cent rise over two years – which the union is about to ballot its members on.

Dr Parker said the latest award for GPs was “a welcome step forward”, but the union still wanted to see a new contract negotiated for GPs.

Family doctors are likely to be emboldened by the pay rise offered to Aslef, the train drivers’ union, which will now be put to its members. Under the “no-strings” deal, ministers ditched Tory demands for an end to generous working practices, including a four-day week.

The offer is the latest to stoke envy from other parts of the public sector, who could now also demand pay increases.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which remains in dispute with the Government, has just opened a consultation on the six per cent pay rise nurses were awarded this year.

Prof Nicola Ranger, the RCN general secretary, said:  “We do not begrudge doctors their pay rise… What we ask for is the same fair treatment from Government.”

‘Wider reform’

On Thursday, the Education Secretary refused four times to say how the pay rise for train drivers would be funded.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Bridget Phillipson refused to be drawn on the issue, saying only that the Government would ensure a “fair deal” for passengers and pointing to “wider reform” of the industry.

Experts have estimated that the deal will cost taxpayers around £185 million because of government subsidies to the rail industry.

Around 10 million pensioners in England and Wales will lose their winter fuel payments under plans announced by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, which she said would help to plug a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.

Alicia Kearns, the Tory MP for Rutland, said: “True to type, first Labour has targeted pensioners. Soon they will come for anyone with the fiscal sense to have valued saving over splurging, all to reward unions like Aslef.

“Freezing pensioners is not only wrong, but is economically illiterate and will see more pensioners have to take up pension credit to qualify for help so they’re not sick and cold in damp homes this winter.”

Helen Whately, the shadow transport secretary, said the bumper pay rise showed Labour had “chosen to prioritise the unions over pensioners”, adding: “It is deeply disappointing that this Government has chosen not to include working practice reforms in their deal.

“Instead, pensioners are being deprived of the winter fuel allowance, taxpayers are facing tax hikes, and passengers are facing higher fares.”

‘Positive conversations’

She also wrote to Louise Haigh, the Transport Secretary, demanding that the Government commit to resisting “unaffordable” demands from other unions.

A BMA spokesman said: “We have had positive conversations with the new Government in terms of jointly working together to rebuild general practice. 

“The 2024/25 Contract uplift, for example, is a welcome first step, but we have made both ministers and, as expected, the profession, aware that there is a long way still to go.

“We are however moving in the right direction and look forward to continuing to work closely together for the benefit of the profession and our patients.”

A government spokesman said:  “We said we would be honest with the public and, with the dire state of the public finances that we have inherited, we must take difficult decisions to fix the foundations of the economy.

“We are accepting the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration pay recommendation of six per cent uplift to pay. We are consulting on the implementation of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration for GPs and will announce further detail in due course.”

Merchant navy strike

It came as merchant navy officers went on strike for the first time in 120 years over pay. Personnel working at officer level in the Navy’s civilian-crewed Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) stopped working at one minute past midnight on Thursday as part of a 24-hour strike.

In April, members of Nautilus International Union, which represents RFA officers voted overwhelmingly for strike action, expressing their deep frustration and anger at an imposed 4.5 per cent pay offer for 2023/24.

They say the pay offer falls far below the rate of inflation for that time period, which is compounded by the over 30 per cent real term pay cut members have faced since 2010.

It is the first time in the history of the RFA, which provides critical support to the Royal Navy, that officers will carry out strike action.

Martyn Gray, the director of organising at Nautilus International, said: “Our members are fed up. For too long, the RFA, the Royal Navy and the Ministry of Defence have relied on the good will of our members to carry out essential operations.

“The key message from our members is simple – they are overworked, underpaid and undervalued. The only way to solve this dispute is with a pay offer that recognises the high rate of inflation and begins a pathway to pay restoration.”

On Friday, Rail, Maritime and Transport union members of the RFA will also strike in the long-running dispute over pay.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were invited to tour Colombia after its vice-president watched their Netflix documentary and was “deeply moved” by their story.

Francia Marquez, the first black woman to be elected as vice-president of the South American country, said she had watched their streamed six-part documentary and thought a visit from Meghan would “strengthen so many women around the world”.

On Thursday, as the Duke and Duchess began their four-day trip, they were formally welcomed by Ms Marquez and Rafael Yerney Pinillo, her partner, at the vice-president’s residence.

They exchanged gifts over coffee, tea, and traditional pan de bono (Colombian cheese bread), and Ms Marquez is said to have “expressed her gratitude” for the couple’s official visit and told them they share the same ideals and goals when it came to championing a safer digital future for all.

In her opening statement to the Colombian media, Ms Marquez said: “Colombia, the country of beauty, is hosting a very special visit. Starting today, we will welcome Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

“This is their first visit to Latin America. The purpose of their visit is to build bridges and open doors that will allow us to join forces in raising awareness and addressing a global issue that concerns us all: cyber-bullying in digital environments and discrimination, which pose a risk to everyone’s mental health worldwide.

Ms Marquez continued: “Undoubtedly, this partnership will help us advance in protecting and ensuring the rights of children and adolescents.

“It also aims to promote the leadership of women in Colombia and around the world. This visit was made possible thanks to an invitation we extended to Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, last year.

“From today until Sunday, we will be visiting Bogota, Cartagena and Cali, where we will meet with young people, women, social leaders, and communities.

“During this visit, we will exchange experiences about what Colombia is doing to prevent cyber-bullying and violence on social media.

“We will also learn about educational processes that are being recognised globally for protecting and guaranteeing the rights of children and youth, as well as cultural exchanges with young people who are contributing to our nation’s peace through art and culture.

“Additionally, we will have a delightful meeting with the Colombian team participating in the Invictus Games for veterans and war victims, which was created 10 years ago by Prince Harry. Colombia is the only Latin American country participating in these games. 

“We are preparing for the upcoming competitions, which will be held in February 2025 in Canada. We thank the Duke and Duchess for their visit to our country”.

The couple later visited a local school, Colegio Cultura Popular, where the Duchess urged pupils to ensure they were “self-reliant and not tech-reliant”. 

They joined one class for an “insight session” during which the children discussed their favourite and least favourite parts of social media, technology and navigating life on the internet.

Meghan described the group as incredibly “impressive, smart and savvy” while Harry asked the students how they talked about managing social media at home with their families.

The Duchess revealed that their Archewell Foundation had researched the differences in social media use across the world and that globally, the average person checks their social media profiles 42 times a day, but in Latin America, the average is 67 times per day.

Each student shared personal stories about how social media affected their lives both positively and negatively.

Later, the couple, who were accompanied by Ms Marquez, joined students during break time and were greeted by excited screams.

Meghan wore the navy Arte Pant suit by Veronica Beard, which is currently on sale for $448 (£348).

The couple changed outfits to enjoy theatre, music and dance performances at the Delia Zapata National Centre for the Arts in Bogota.

They stood to clap along to the music while Harry swayed his hips and appeared to be asking questions about the elaborate, colourful costumes.

The Duke later shook hands with various performers, telling them their outfits were “amazing” before the pair posed for selfies and group photos.

Asked earlier at a press conference how the invitation to Colombia had come about, Ms Marquez said: “How did I get to know Meghan and Harry? 

“I first encountered them through the media, and I particularly watched the Netflix series about their lives and their story, which deeply moved me.

“It motivated me to say, ‘This is a woman who deserves to visit our country and share her story’, and undoubtedly, her visit will strengthen so many women around the world.”

She suggested that she and the Duchess had experienced similar racist abuse during their time in public life.

Ms Marquez originally invited the Duchess to participate in events for a “Day of Afro-descendant Women” last year.

“At that time, we sent her an invitation letter, and she responded saying that she couldn’t come but was very eager to visit and get to know our country,” she said.

“Since then, we have been working for a year to make this important visit happen, and that’s how it came about.”

The Netflix show, called Harry and Meghan and aired in 2022, detailed the Sussexes’ exit from the Royal family. 

It included criticism of the Commonwealth, with one contributor calling it “Empire 2.0” and another saying the organisation had “not changed a thing [since colonial days], they’ve just got better PR”.

The documentary included interviews with Harry, Meghan, her mother Doria and friends who painted an unhappy picture of their time in the Royal family, battles with the tabloid press, and revelations about the Duchess’ suicidal thoughts and miscarriage.

Ms Marquez was also asked about the significance of Diana, Princess of Wales being scheduled to visit Colombia before she died in 1997.

“I think the world witnessed the story of Diana,” she replied. “The world saw the story of harassment and how painful it must have been for her and for many women around the world who sometimes find themselves in similar situations or occupy certain positions.

“I believe that having Prince Harry here today, following his mother’s dream of visiting this country, is a great opportunity to showcase the best of our nation, to show who we Colombians are.

“People who, despite adversities, do their best to give the best of themselves. I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for Colombia to highlight what we are as a nation.”

The Duke and Duchess’ trip is focused on the topic of digital technology and the safety of children online. 

As well as visiting schools, they are also expected to travel to San Basilio de Palenque, the first “free town” in South America founded by escaped slaves, and a music festival set up to celebrate Afro-Colombian culture.

The Duchess will attend an “Afro Women and Power” discussion.

Ms Marquez is a leading voice in calling for slavery reparations from European states, with Caribbean, South American and African campaigners working together to bring about compensation to overcome what they argue are the negative effects of colonialism to the present day.

The Colombian government has committed to a programme to “repair the historical debt owed to the Afro-descendant, black, Raizal and Palenquero peoples, victims of the slave trade, enslavement and structural racism”, with a national commission on reparations.

The area was part of the Spanish Empire rather than the British.

The silence was deafening. From the distress of bullied children to the cold shoulder of colleagues or the parade of friends who turned out not to be friends at all, testimonies from the Jewish community in Britain reveal the same bleak experiences. 

It wasn’t just the world that changed the day Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 last year. The world of British Jews did too, as mutating strains of anti-Semitism worked their way beyond smashed shopfronts and violent protests and into the domestic and everyday. And each witness uses the same expression. The silence was deafening.

“My whole life has changed since October 7,” says Barbara Smith*, 49, from London. “I’ve lost half my friends. I’ve lost my best friend. I don’t know how the situation will ever right itself.”

There are only 287,000 Jews in Britain, the same number as Buddhists but a tiny minority compared to the four million Muslims. There is a new political climate in which – willingly or otherwise – British Jews have become inextricably linked to the state of Israel. Across a scale of opinion that ranges from wishing Israel to be destroyed to opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza, Jewish people are an enemy – supportive of and complicit in the appropriated words “genocide” and “Zionism”.

Stemming from this, some Jews say, is hostility and suspicion that has seeped into every area of their lives, fuelling uncertainty about where it will flare up next, never being sure of the intentions of those with whom they interact daily. 

Two incidents last week – both of which took place in the context of what should have been light entertainment – added to the sense of anxiety and discomfort felt by many Jews.

On Sunday, in an ill-judged joke following the departure of two Israeli audience members offended by a previous quip at his Edinburgh Fringe show, the comedian Reginald D Hunter recounted a remark that his female partner had previously made about having difficulty accessing the Jewish Chronicle’s website: “Typical f—ing Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe.” He then added: “It’s just a joke.” 

In another incident, broadcast on Tuesday, the actress Miriam Margolyes, who is Jewish herself, described Charles Dickens’s Fagin as “Jewish and vile”, prompting laughter from the audience on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. The 83-year-old, a vociferous critic of Israel, added: “I didn’t know Jews like that then – sadly I do now.”

Dave Rich, policy director of the Community Security Trust (CST), pointed out the irony of audiences laughing at such remarks after “two weeks of the whole country going on about how racism is evil and everyone is valued”.

Meanwhile, everywhere, in every moment, social media picks at old wounds and opens new ones.

“Jewish people’s sense of who they are is different after October 7,” says Rich, the author of Everyday Hate: How Antisemitism Is Built Into Our World – And How You Can Change It. 

“It was such a shattering blow and the reaction to it – either disinterest or denial – and the wave of anti-Semitism that came straight away was shocking. It has left a lot of Jewish people thinking ‘Is this still the same country we thought it was?’

“Those incidental, day-to-day, very personal interactions have been chilling – within workplaces, schools, WhatsApp groups. The space for Jewish people to live a happy, comfortable life without being affected by all this is getting squeezed.”

In February the CST reported a 147 per cent rise in anti-Semitic attacks and abuse over the same period last year. In the first six months of this year it recorded 1,978 incidents in the UK, the highest ever total in the first six months of any year. It’s vital to understand that the sea change came immediately after Hamas attacked on October 7, 20 days before Israeli forces entered Gaza.

Collecting stories of these day-to-day interactions feels a bit like Dr Johnson collecting words for his dictionary. There is always another one just waiting to be discovered. That explains why the majority of people I spoke to did not wish to use their real names. You cannot underestimate how deeply cultural memory processes these acts of personal and public discrimination. Adult Jews today are only three generations from the Holocaust and five from the Russian pogroms. What is happening is a kind of silent, slow-moving Kristallnacht. This is everyday anti-Semitism.

Friendships broken

Jeremy Ginges, Professor in Behavioural Science at the LSE explains how Gaza has become, uniquely, a dividing line at the most intimate level of social interaction. “This is a moral litmus test where you have to pick one side or the other. Opinions on Israel’s actions in Gaza and Hamas’ attack on Israel have become the essence of who people are or want to be. It’s almost as if for some in the UK it defines what it means to be a ‘good person’.”

Where that positions Jews in this very public conflict is obvious. Each testimony replays an uncannily similar pattern in which social media and messaging apps are used as the facilitator for mistrust and division. 

“After October 7 people I had known for years deleted me from their friends groups,” says Smith. “When I told my best friend about the Hamas attack her response was ‘for every Israeli death there are 100 Palestinian deaths”. I asked her to understand how upsetting it was for me but she just wanted to tell me claims of anti-Semitism were propaganda. We’ve never spoken again.”

“People who have shown no interest in Israel or Palestine are suddenly becoming ‘experts’ and that’s where the tension lies,” says Elliott Lewis*, a secondary school teacher in Essex. 

“My wife and I had friends in Cornwall. We were the first Jews they’d ever met. After October 7 my wife had been posting on Instagram about anti-Semitism and then discovered her friend in Cornwall had stopped following her. This woman was publishing stuff about genocide and Nazi state and the playbook of dodgy Israel discourse. So we had a complete falling out. People are so traumatised by this. I don’t use that word lightly.”

Many on the Left most energised by Israel and Palestine can’t accept they could ever be anti-Semitic because they believe they’ve always fought racism. Well-meaning people end up being anti-Semitic by accident, susceptible to peer pressure, half-truths and outright falsehoods. That means that those who have convinced themselves they possess the facts – let alone the armies of previously uninterested and ignorant newbies – feel their desire to be morally right outweighs the sensitivities of those they see as wrong. Others of a less Puritan disposition could argue that although it is not anti-Semitic to criticise Israel, it certainly looks like it if you only ever criticise Israel and nobody else.

“I had a friend for 10 years in Glasgow and after October 7 he started posting all this anti-Israel stuff,” explains Lois Mendelsohn, 39, a digital content creator in Oxford. “I tried to talk to him about the other side and that he was supporting terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism but he said he understood the history.

“My old friend doesn’t care what I feel. In his mind Israel is the bad guy. I don’t see how we can be on good terms again. I’ve lost other friends who won’t speak to me and it’s almost as if ending a friendship with a Jew is a way of supporting the Palestinians.”

“My son’s bar mitzvah was a week after the Hamas attacks and on the night I realised my friend hadn’t turned up,” says Victoria Portnoy, 40, from Essex. “The next day I sent her a message to see if she was OK. She said she was having ‘sad feelings’. I knew she was referring to the Hamas attacks. From October 7 until the bar mitzvah she had been posting pro-Palestinian content on social media but had changed her settings so I couldn’t see it. 

“She never once asked about me or my family. I’d been in her house two weeks before for her birthday party but she couldn’t come to a bar mitzvah because of what was happening in Israel. She refuses to see me and none of our other friends will even discuss it.”

When casual conversation becomes a duel equipped with words such as “genocide” or when “Zionist” metastasises into “racist”, it destroys trust and the scope for constructive dialogue and empathy disappears. 

“I’ve been friends with a girl since we were 11,” says Shelley Lipman, 52, a nurse in Cambridge. “She’s always been pro-Palestine, so come October 7 I was dreading talking to her about it. She said: ‘I condemn what Hamas did, but what do you expect?’

“In the end I said I couldn’t speak to her because I was too emotional. A mutual friend told me she wants an apology from me. My great grandparents did not survive the Holocaust and I have to speak up.”

The largest LGBT+ Jewish charity decided not to take part in the London Pride this year, citing their members and congregants’ fears over safety on the march. “I’ve been cut off from a lot of people and I feel very alienated from the gay community,” says Steven Steyn*, 43, a digital marketer who’s lived in London for 20 years. “For a community that talks about inclusivity it’s been very alienating towards gay Jews. My best friend just stopped messaging me and we don’t talk any more. We’d been close for seven years. He’d even been to Israel with me.”

“I have a close friend of 25 years who married a Muslim woman a couple of years ago,” says Marc Phillipson*, 50, a banker from London. “I was one of the ushers and he and his wife referred to me and my wife as “family”.

“After the Hamas attack my friend’s wife started posting a lot of content about Israel. I asked her to get together with me in person to find some common ground. Then I got a call from my friend who said there was no way of finding common ground. He suggested I didn’t contact her again. It was unbelievably upsetting.”

Work and public life

These accumulating acts of dissociation have for many Jews produced a hum of paranoia, though the definition of paranoia is “unjustified suspicion” and, they say, there is little unjustified about the evidence of their own eyes and ears. One person reported six successive Uber drivers accepting then refusing a fare once they realised the destination was a synagogue.

“I work in diversity and inclusion and I never questioned why anti-Semitism wasn’t discussed,” says Sarah Goldsmith*, 37, from London. “Now I see people using D&I to justify their anti-Semitism.

“When you look at company statements after the murder of George Floyd and how they organised talking circles to ensure their black employees were OK and then the almost non-existent corporate response after October 7, it was a surprise to me.

“I feel naive saying that now. D&I is based on a framework organised around privilege and oppression. And Jews are perceived as the ultimate white privileged people. It totally discounts the existence of non-white Jews and the fact that six million “white” Jews were murdered because they weren’t seen as white.”

Portrayals of Israel as uniquely oppressive and violent not only wreck any chance of understanding from those drawn to the other “side” but also encourage an already narrow definition of racism, from which Jews are often excluded. This appears in the common assumption that Jews can’t suffer discrimination. It also follows that those who indulge in it often don’t understand or recognise it. “We should probably just call it anti-Jewish racism,” argues Rich.

For the victims of this racism, the ubiquity of social media and the types of performative behaviour it fosters means that the Hamas attacks were like the codeword that activated a million anti-Semitic sleeper agents. 

“We’ve had reports of people putting anti-Semitic or extreme anti-Israel comments on company intranet and chat boards,” says Rich. “It’s especially the case in cultural industries such as publishing, museums, galleries – and professional organisations and the medical profession. It’s usually more insidious than actual discrimination.”

Schools and children

The pervasiveness of everyday anti-Semitism shows up in education, with even primary school children being politicised by a combination of parental prejudice and the seemingly unavoidable influence of YouTube and TikTok.

“Jewish children get people screaming ‘Free Palestine’ at them on the school field,” says Lewis. “The social media timelines of the children are almost exclusively pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel.“

The content can range from classic Nazi-related tropes and conspiracies about the role of Jews in world events such as 9/11 or their responsibility for October 7 attacks, to a mass of misinformation and falsification relating to the actions of Hamas and the IDF. In November a report by US data scientist Anthony Goldbloom found 98.6 per cent of views on TikTok of content related to the war carried a pro-Palestinian hashtag. In February TikTok representatives admitted they had identified 160 million fake accounts spreading anti-Semitism on the platform.

There are examples of schools cancelling or avoiding events that threatened even the slightest possibility of conflict, such as “wear your own clothes day” or “international day”, in fear that either Muslim children would arrive wrapped in Palestinian flags or Jewish children would turn up with Israeli costumes.

“Teachers I know tell me some of the children in their primary schools have been asked to sign ‘purity pledges’ by other pupils to force them to declare which side they were on,” says Angie Konrad, 73, from Hove. Several Jewish parents told me similar stories. Others said Israel had been scratched out of their school’s atlases by children in Years 5 and 6. Another recounts how Muslim pupils drew Palestinian flags on paper aeroplanes and threw them at a Jewish girl’s head.

TikTok has somehow made a 1930s German army marching song popular with impressionable boys in Britain and the US. One parent reported the title “Erika” being written on the desk of his daughter and in June footage was released of the song being played at Warwick University Conservative Association party.

“My son was very upset by the song,” says Anna Gerson*, 40, a therapist from Buckinghamshire. “He said everyone sings it and hums it in school. When he walks down the hallway they shout “Erika” and do a Nazi salute. The song is used as background music for gaming videos. He gets very emotional about it.”

Identity and the future

Up to the 19th century, anti-Semitism was religious. Then it became political, then ethnic. Now, incredibly, it is all three. Jewish people have gone from usurious deniers of Christ in the Middle Ages to the agents of capitalism or Marxism to the Nazi untermenschen to being complicit in Palestinian “genocide”.

As hardy as the common cold, no two strains of anti-Semitism are exactly the same and inoculation remains elusive.

“You can’t avoid really extreme demonisation of Israel sliding into open anti-Semitism,” says Rich. “The question ‘What is this country going to be like for our children?’ is being asked a lot. What people come back to is, why does this conflict generate so much emotion and attention. There is no other conflict that will get 20,000 people on a march, let alone 200,000 and certainly not where a large proportion of people on that march are calling for one of the countries involved to disappear from the map completely.”

Personal links to Israel, a sense of historical tragedy and the fear that those horrors might reappear are making the majority of Britain’s Jews refocus on their identity. 

“I feel scared to wear any Jewish symbols,” says Louise Petersen*, 53, a writer from London. “I tell my daughters to behave differently and play their Jewishness down. It kills me. Jews need our friends to speak up. We feel alone.”

In responses that vacillate between anxiety and militancy, many said things such as “I’ve started going to shul [synagogue] again”.

“My mother was in a concentration camp and my father lived in hiding in Budapest,” says Konrad. “Both my parents said ‘Don’t think this [the Holocaust] couldn’t happen again.’ I feel scared now because when I see someone carrying a Palestinian flag I feel sick, not because I hate Palestinians but because I know there’s a good chance the person carrying that flag wants me dead.”

Everyone who contributed to this article said they’d had “the conversation” about leaving the UK. “I’m a very British Jew and I always saw my home being here,” says Phillipson. “Now I’m not convinced it will be. More for my children’s generation, I’m worried about being such a tiny minority. Even after October 7, Israel might be the safest place to live.”

“When I go to Israel I feel like I can breathe,” says Steyn. “I was in a war zone the last time but it felt safer than London.” 

In the film Chariots Of Fire, the sprinter Harold M Abrahams says something about anti-Semitism in 1924 that applies to 2024. “Sometimes I say to myself, ‘Hey, steady on, you’re imagining all this.’ And then I catch that look again. Catch it on the edge of a remark, feel a cold reluctance in a handshake.”

“Sometimes in the Jewish community we miss the fact that most people in Britain are horrified by anti-Semitism,” says Rich. “We need the help of public organisations who are rightly quick to address other forms of racism but have rarely thought about anti-Semitism before. And from liberal educated people who would not say prejudiced things about other minorities but think this is the one hatred you’re allowed to have. People need to speak up about it and recognise the impact it’s having.”

*Names have been changed

The Home Office is to consider banning silent prayer outside abortion clinics, The Telegraph understands.

MPs voted for legislation last year which would ban protests, including silent prayer, within a buffer zone of 150 metres of a clinic or hospital providing abortion services, but it has not yet come into force.

And despite the vote, draft guidance published in December told police that silent prayer should be allowed inside the new “safe access zones”.

It also allowed for “consensual” communication within the zones, which has been interpreted as permitting the handing out of leaflets or activists engaging people in conversation.

The Telegraph understands that ministers will now be reviewing this guidance. Pro-choice campaigners hope the review will result in both silent prayer and the handing out of leaflets being limited.

Government sources did not specify which aspects of the guidance, which was put out for consultation, could be revised.

All three Home Office ministers, including Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, voted against allowing silent prayer inside buffer zones while in opposition.

The current draft guidance states that “prayer within a safe access zone should not automatically be seen as unlawful”.

It adds: “Silent prayer, being the engagement of the mind and thought in prayer towards God, is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998 and should not, on its own, be considered to be an offence under any circumstances.”

Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, confirmed earlier this month that the Government would implement safe access zones around abortion clinics “imminently”.

Under the Tories, the Home Office consultation ended in January. Finalised guidance was expected in the spring, but was not published before July’s election.

Dame Diana Johnson, the new policing minister, had questioned James Cleverly, the then home secretary, over the document in her role as chairman of the home affairs select committee earlier this year, signalling her dissatisfaction with the wording on silent prayer.

Dame Diana, who is not personally responsible for the abortion clinic legislation, told the then-home secretary in January: “We specifically voted against proposals to allow silent prayer and consensual communication in safe access zones.

“I notice that the Home Office has produced guidance which includes those measures being allowed.

“I just wondered why you would do that when Parliament had been very clear that that was not the will of Parliament,” she added.

A number of pro-choice organisations wrote to Ms Cooper shortly after she took office, urging her to review the guidance and to urgently implement safe access zones around clinics.

Fear of major loopholes for protesters

Louise McCudden, of MSI Reproductive Choices, told The Telegraph that if the draft guidance were not revised, it would “create major loopholes” for anti-abortion protesters.

She added: “We hope the new Government will make sure safe access zones are implemented in line with what elected MPs voted for.

“With a Home Secretary who voted for safe access zones, a Home Office team of fierce reproductive rights advocates like Diana Johnson and Jess Phillips, and a Government that says it wants to make tackling violence against women a priority, we are cautiously optimistic that they recognise the dangers of watering down this legislation.”

Rachael Clarke, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: “The law was designed specifically to stop activities such as being present all day every day, staring at and approaching women as they try to access confidential medical care, handing out false medical information in leaflets, or standing at the clinic gate with rosary beads and candles.

“It should be clear to everyone that these activities are designed to influence women’s reproductive choices – there’s simply no other reason to be present at the gate to an abortion clinic.”

Ban ‘threat to religious freedom’

However, some MPs and campaigners have said silent prayer should never be considered a form of protest, and claim that banning it outside clinics would be a threat to religious freedom.

In March 2023, an anti-abortion campaigner was arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was filmed in front of a British Pregnancy Advisory Services clinic that was subject to a “buffer zone” order before the draft guidance was published.

She was not carrying a placard and did not say anything about abortion procedures aloud.

West Midlands Police later released her without charge and apologised, with Ms Vaughan-Spruce claiming she had been targeted for a “thought crime”.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom included her arrest in its annual list of violations of religious freedom around the world.

A Ukrainian armoured vehicle attempted to ram through a Russian border checkpoint alone before coming under heavy fire.

Video appears to show the Kozak-2 vehicle heading at full speed towards the Kolotilovka checkpoint, which separates Ukraine from Russia’s Belgorod region.

Russian military bloggers called it a “suicide mission” after the combat vehicle – clearly marked with Ukraine’s white triangle, a symbol of its invasion of Russia – quickly became trapped by a barricade on the road.

The footage shows the vehicle crashing near the centre of the checkpoint and coming under fire. It was reportedly hit by a Russian FPV drone and a precision-guided Krasnopol shell.

It is not clear what happened to the seven soldiers seen scrambling out of the vehicle before it was hit.

“Barely alive after such a blow, the paratroopers still managed to unload at the entrance to the checkpoint,” reported one Russian Telegram account, which claimed that they were then “eliminated”.

Belgorod has come under bombardment in recent days as Ukraine’s incursion, which began in the neighbouring Kursk region, enters its 10th day. The offensive has so far forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 from the border zone.

A state of emergency was declared in Belgorod on Thursday, with officials citing a “complex and tense” situation.

Russia’s army said it was preparing “concrete actions”, including “the allocation of additional forces”, to defend Belgorod from further Ukrainian attacks.

Kyiv claims to have seized over 1,150 square kilometres of Russian territory in Kursk. Moscow claims its forces have stemmed Ukraine’s advances, while conceding that small groups continue to probe its border defences.

Sweden has registered Europe’s first case of the more dangerous variant of mpox which is spreading rapidly in Africa, after the WHO declared a global public health emergency.

“We have now […]  had confirmation that we have one case in Sweden of the more grave type of mpox, the one called Clade 1,” Health and Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed told a press conference on Thursday.

Sweden’s Public Health Agency said: “It is the first case caused by clade 1 to be diagnosed outside the African continent.”

The announcement came after the World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak of clade 1 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has quickly spread to neighbouring countries.

Clade 1 was likely to be linked to “a higher rise of a more severe course of disease and higher mortality,” the Swedish public health agency said.

The patient caught the virus during a visit to “the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of mpox clade 1,” said Magnus Gisslen, a state epidemiologist.

The patient “has received care,” he said, without giving further details of the person’s condition.

The public health agency said that Sweden “has a preparedness to diagnose, isolate and treat people with mpox safely”.

“The fact that a patient with mpox is treated in the country does not affect the risk to the general population, a risk that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) currently considers very low,” it said.

Mpox is primarily spread through close contact, such as sex, skin-to-skin contact and talking or breathing close to another person.

It causes a characteristic lumpy rash with pus-filled lesions, fever, aches, and pains. It has also been linked to dangerous complications for pregnant women including miscarriage.

There are two main types of mpox, known as clade 1 and clade 2. While clade 2 caused a public health emergency in 2022, it was relatively mild and has already appeared in Sweden along with more than 100 other countries.

Clade 1b, a mutant strain of clade 1, appeared in a small mining town in the DRC in September of last year and is said to be “the most dangerous yet”.

It is believed to have a higher mortality rate of somewhere between 5-10 per cent, compared to around 0.2 per cent of clade 2.

Since the start of the year, more than 15,000 people have been infected with clade 1 in the DRC, with at least 548 dying from the virus. The variant has also jumped to neighbouring countries, with cases also reported in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.

The scale of the outbreak led the WHO to declare it a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on Wednesday – the same step the agency took for Covid-19, shortly before it spiralled into a global pandemic in 2020.

“The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said as he announced the alert. “It is something that should concern us all.”

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Thursday said that, although no cases of clade 1 have so far been recorded in Britain, planning was underway for the arrival of the variant.

“This includes ensuring that clinicians are aware and able to recognise cases promptly, that rapid testing is available, and that protocols are developed for the safe clinical care of people who have the infection and the prevention of onward transmission,” said Dr Meera Chand, a UKHSA deputy director.

Krutika Kuppalli, a spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America and former WHO medical officer, told The Telegraph: “The spread of clade I mpox outside of Africa is concerning and underscores the importance of ensuring global solidarity and scaling up access to countermeasures such as vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics as well as supporting clinical management to the DRC and Africa to contain this outbreak.”

Formerly called monkeypox, the virus was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC.

There are three vaccines that offer protection against mpox. All of which were derived from jabs for smallpox – a close and much deadlier cousin.

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