Sarah Sackman has told the JC she agrees with the Chief Rabbi’s assessment that it is no longer safe to be visibly Jewish in the UK.
The Labour MP for Finchley and Golders Green, who is also a justice minister, spoke to the JC on the day of the double stabbing in her constituency and responded to Sir Ephraim Mirvis’s comments that the attack “prove that if you’re visible Jewish you are not safe.”
Sackman said: “The Chief Rabbi is right. We have seen today two people who have been stabbed on the streets of Golders Green simply because they are Jews, and he is also right that if you are visibly Jewish, if you wear the physical symbols, if you wear a kippah, a Star of David, that you are more under threat.”
The courts minister, who is one of the most high-profile Jewish women in the UK, said she is a “proud British Jew” and “makes no secret of my Jewish heritage, Jewish life and the fact that I am bringing up my children as Jews, and I don’t intend to turn down the volume on that”.
She said constituents in her area, which is home to one of the UK’s largest Jewish communities, had told her stories of being “spat at” while at the bus stop.
She called on the community to continue living openly Jewish lives. “I don’t want to see Jewish people in this country living smaller Jewish lives,” she said, confirming she would be attending her synagogue New North London Masorti over Shabbat.
She later added: “When I take my children to synagogue in my local area, I find myself holding and gripping their hand that little bit tighter. I know I am not alone in that.”
She said she and her team have taken the “necessary precautions” for their security.
Sackman was heckled by a handful of protesters when she met with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, and some members of the community called on her to resign.
But the minister defended those who heckled her, saying: “Freedom of speech, freedom to express your anger, your criticism of politicians you don’t like is how we operate, that’s rock and roll, and I haven’t got a problem with that.”
However, she said she did have a problem with those who have sought to “drown out the conversation that we have to have about extremism.”
When asked about people making aliyah over antisemitism fears, Sackman defended multicultural Britain.
“Britain is a wonderful country. This part of north London, one of the most diverse in the country, is a very special place… There is a sense of shared aspiration for what we want for our kids: a brighter future, a better environment.”
Emigration from the UK to Israel reached a 40-year high in 2025 amid rising antisemitism, but Sackman said she did not share the view that life in Britain was untenable for Jews.
She said she understands why some in the Jewish community are making aliyah, but does not agree that Britain is a place where Jews cannot live freely.
“I know that the vast majority of British people in this country are decent, moderate, tolerant, and support British Jews, but we need to hear their voices louder than ever.”
Those voices, she said, were needed to “drown out” extremism.
“To those who say they don’t have a future here, I understand those fears, but I don’t share that outlook for the community,” she said.
“Our institutions, our government, stand squarely behind British Jews,” she added, saying that she met with the Home Secretary as soon as she heard news of the attack.
“I know that the prime minister has a deep commitment to this; he staked his political career on rooting antisemitism from the Labour Party,” she added.
“Our allies are everywhere. My phone has been full of messages from local priests, local imams, local community leaders - people who say: what can we do?”
Quoting the late former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Sackman warned: “Jews are the canary in the coal mine.”
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