‘A test of our values’: Starmer to call for whole-society response to rising antisemitism
Keir Starmer will call for a whole-of-society response to rising antisemitism on Tuesday, saying that it is not enough simply to condemn the scourge, but people “must show it” through their actions too.Before a roundtable event at Downing Street, the prime minister will call for action on all forms of antisemitism, after a knife attack against the Jewish community in Golders Green last week, a spate of serious arson attacks and the terror incident in Heaton Park in October.Sarah Sackman, the Labour MP for Finchley and Golders Green, said there had been a “lack of vocal solidarity” from parts of the liberal left, including some anti-racist organisations, in the face of rising antisemitism across the UK.No 10 will host representatives from across society including business, charities, health and culture, higher education and policing, for talks with the Jewish community.Starmer is expected to say they all need to refuse to platform hatred or turn a blind eye to extremism.
“Last week’s terrorist attack in Golders Green was utterly appalling.But it was not an isolated incident.It is part of a pattern of rising antisemitism that has left our Jewish communities feeling frightened, angry, and asking whether this country, their home, is safe for them,” he will say.“These disgusting attacks are being made against British Jews.But, make no mistake, this crisis – it is a crisis for all of us.
It is a test of our values.Values that are not guaranteed, but are earned.Every single day, through our actions.“So, it is not enough to simply say we stand with Jewish communities.We must show it.
And that responsibility lies with each and every one of us.”Starmer will also convene minsters for the latest Middle East response committee, this time focused on the domestic security implications of the conflict, in particular the heightened threat to Jewish communities.The government has announced an additional £25m in funding to increase police patrols, enhance security at synagogues, schools and community centres, and place specialist and plainclothes officers in communities.The Golders Green stabbings have intensified calls for action, coming within weeks of other antisemitic incidents in the same area.The police are investigating whether these incidents involved criminal proxies acting for Iran.
Sackman, who is also the courts and legal services minister, said there has been an outpouring of support since last week’s knife attack in her constituency, with messages from Christian and Muslim faith leaders.The incident had “clearly resonated” with people, she added.“For a minority community to come under this sort of sustained level of threat and attack purely for our identity, you would expect in the normal run of things for anti-racist organisations, for trade unions, for cultural leaders to speak out,” she told the Times.“I think what has been notable is, for some time now, a lack of vocal solidarity from the moderate majority.You would expect our anti-racist movement, who quite rightly come out vocally, regularly for other minoritised communities to have responded in kind.
”Last week she wrote for the Guardian saying Jewish people wanted to go about their daily lives – working, taking their children to school and practising their faith – free from fear.Sackman wrote that she now finds herself gripping her daughters’ hands more tightly, adding that many British Jews feel exhausted and afraid.“Where are the marches in solidarity and support of our Jewish community? Where is the response of the liberal left? Where are the anti-racists, the trade unions, civil society, our friends and neighbours?” she wrote.“Where are the leaders of the powerful tech platforms who have allowed hate to proliferate via their algorithms? Where are the university chancellors, the leaders of our cultural sector and the NHS managers who must urgently root out hate in their institutions?”
Thousands of Just Eat couriers launch legal action to improve workers’ rights
More than 7,000 Just Eat couriers are taking legal action against the food delivery company in an attempt to gain better employment rights including the minimum wage and holiday pay.The employment tribunal, which begins on Tuesday and is set to run until 2 June, will determine if the couriers are classed as workers, a status that comes with improved rights, or self-employed independent contractors.Judgment is expected later in 2026.Just Eat dismissed about 1,700 couriers in the UK in 2023 when it returned to a gig economy model and scrapped an experiment that offered guaranteed minimum pay, sick pay and holiday pay in six cities in the UK and Europe.Under its “Scoober” experiment, couriers who Just Eat said handled less than 5% of UK orders at the time and also worked set shifts, were provided with e-bikes or e-mopeds and had the option to operate from a central hub, where they could pick up equipment and take breaks
UK food prices on track to rise by 50% since start of cost of living crisis
Food prices are on track to be 50% higher in November than at the start of the cost of living crisis in 2021, research suggests.Climate and energy shocks have driven an almost quadrupling of the pace of food price growth, according to research from the thinktank Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), with costs rising in five years at about the same rate as they had over the previous two decades.Anna Taylor, the executive director of the Food Foundation charity, said: “Food prices rising this high and this fast leaves families on the lowest incomes with nowhere left to cut except the food on their plate. When that happens, people skip meals, children go hungry, and diet-related illness rises – taking parents out of work and piling pressure on an NHS that can least afford it.”The research suggests that the cost of living crisis, which many voters blame on political elites and big business, is likely to continue to be an important political issue during 2026
Vine video-sharing app is back – and battling AI slop
As a pioneer of the short-form video format, Vine has been credited as one of the most influential – if short-lived – social media platforms.The app, which allowed users to record a looping six seconds of video, boomed in popularity after its launch in 2013, spawning a plethora of viral comedy sketches and internet memes. It hit 100 million monthly active users at its peak and helped launch the careers of influencers such as Logan Paul.It was snapped up by Twitter – now X – soon after its creation, but closed in 2017 after the platform failed to make the sums add up.Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder, is now backing an attempt to bring back a revamped version of the much-loved platform with a new philosophy: to be the short-form video app offering “freedom from AI slop”
GameStop makes $55.5bn takeover offer for eBay
US video games retailer GameStop has offered to buy eBay for $55.5bn (£41bn) in an unsolicited bid that its boss warned could turn hostile if the proposal is rebuffed by eBay’s board.GameStop, which has quietly accumulated a 5% stake in eBay, said it was willing to pay $125 a share, split 50-50 between cash and stock.It is an ambitious move by the games company, which catapulted to fame during the meme-stock craze of 2021 but is worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn on Friday before its bid, while eBay – originally launched as a side hobby by its founder Pierre Omidyar in 1995 – is worth about $46bn
Root’s golden arm leads Yorkshire past Somerset, Kent thrash Derbyshire: county cricket, day four
Joe Root has often won games for Yorkshire with the bat, not so often with his golden arm. But it was spin twins Root (four for 49) and Dom Bess (four for 60) who did for Somerset, chasing 260 in front of a good bank holiday Monday crowd. George Hill, charging in with zip, bowled Archie Vaughan and Tom Lammonby cheaply, then Bess removed danger men James Rew, who had a rare bad match, and his great friend Tom Abell.Root impishly polished off most of the tail. Thomas Rew got off the mark, and a pair, with a sweet cover driver for four and played nicely for his 30 before being removed caught Bairstow, bowled Root – surely a badge of honour in his first Championship game
Champions Cup final will have independent TV director in charge
An independent broadcast director is set to be in position for this month’s Champions Cup final in Bilbao after disquiet about the lack of crucial replays available to match officials during Bath’s 38-26 semi-final defeat against Bordeaux-Bègles on Sunday.Johann van Graan, Bath’s head of rugby, suggested three high tackles on his No 8, Alfie Barbeary, were missed because the referee and television match official (TMO) had not been supplied with all the requisite angles by the French host broadcaster. Members of the commentary team on Premier Sports also highlighted the absence of replay footage.Different protocols are in place in the Champions Cup compared with the United Rugby Championship and the Six Nations, when an independent operator sits with the TMO to ensure the best pictures are readily available. On Sunday, under EPCR regulations relating to host country arrangements, a French director was in place
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