The British government has told universities to take tougher action against antisemitism following a deadly terror attack outside a synagogue in Manchester. Officials say schools must use

“every tool available” to protect Jewish students and confront the growing wave of hate and division spreading across campuses.

Education Minister Bridget Phillipson said the government expects universities to take full responsibility for ensuring student safety.

“One instance of antisemitic abuse is one too many,” she said. “The buck stops with universities when it comes to ridding their campuses of hate — and they have my full backing to do so.”

The call to action came after an attack on October 2, when a British man of Syrian descent drove into pedestrians and began stabbing worshippers outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester during Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day. Two men were killed, one accidentally shot by police as he tried to block the attacker from entering the synagogue.

In the aftermath, Phillipson wrote to university vice-chancellors, urging them to take “practical and proportionate steps” to make campuses safe for all students. New regulations introduced in August already require universities to have clear policies and reporting systems to address harassment and hate crimes.

A report presented to the House of Lords earlier this year by StandWithUs UK found that Jewish students are facing unprecedented levels of antisemitism — including harassment, intimidation, and physical assaults — since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism across the country, reported more than 3,500 antisemitic incidents in 2024, making it the second-worst year on record. Recent Home Office data also shows that Jews suffered the highest rate of religious hate crimes in England and Wales between March 2024 and March 2025.

This rise in antisemitism has been mirrored by a surge in anti-Israel sentiment on campuses worldwide. Over the past two years, universities in the UK, US, and Europe have seen waves of pro-Palestinian protests, encampments, and even takeovers of university buildings. Many demonstrations have included chants like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and calls for “intifada” — slogans widely viewed as promoting the destruction of Israel.

Outside King’s College London, for instance, students marched on October 7, 2025 — the second anniversary of the Hamas-led massacre in Israel — carrying banners with the same slogan.

The British government’s renewed stance comes amid growing concern that antisemitism, once considered fringe, has become normalized in academic spaces. Phillipson’s message to universities was clear: tolerance for hate has no place in higher education. Photo by David Dixon, Wikimedia commons.