Sir Keir Starmer has promised to do all he can to protect Jewish communities after two people were killed in a terror attack on a Manchester synagogue. The suspect has been shot dead by police, who also say two arrests have been made. Follow the latest below.
Thursday 2 October 2025 20:39, UK
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The name of the suspect in today’s attack has not appeared in initial searches of police and security service counter-terrorism records, and he is not thought to have been under current investigation, the Press Association reports.
It adds that further checks are being carried out to see if any of his details appear anywhere in records of other investigations.
Earlier, Greater Manchester Police said the identity of the attacker is known but was unable to be confirmed due to “safety reasons at the scene”.
This morning’s attack happened in a multicultural part of Manchester – and one of the most religiously diverse in the country.
We spoke to the chief executive of the British Muslim Trust, Akeela Ahmed, who told us her community stands with their Jewish neighbours today.
“I can only emphasise just how scared people must be feeling right now, and how terrified… and for it to happen on the holiest of days as well, Yom Kippur, it’s despicable,” she tells our lead UK news presenter Sarah-Jane Mee.
Watch her remarks in the video below…
Gideon Falter, the chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, says this morning’s attack was made “inevitable” by the “radicalisation and Islamist extremism” that he says has been allowed to spread by successive governments.
He said: “It has been a long time since British Jews had faith in our politicians, police and institutions. Their appeasement of extremists – especially those of the far-left and radical Islamists – is what has made today’s attack inevitable.”
He said the “blood of British Jews is on the hands of virtue-signalling politicians” and called for “firm and urgent action” from the government and not “empty declarations that antisemitism has no place in Britain”.
Our Data & Forensics team has put this 3D map together, showing how the suspected attacker arrived at the synagogue and where…
Protesters demonstrating against Israel’s actions in Gaza and the recent interception of a flotilla hoping to provide aid to the enclave are taking place in London this evening.
Images show hundreds of people holding signs and marching in central London, with police clashing with a group along Whitehall.
“They had moved away from the gates of Parliament Square, but it sounds like they might now be coming back,” chief political correspondent Jon Craig says.
Similar protests have been happening today in Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid, Naples and Rome.
Sky News understands Sir Keir Starmer has been to visit a synagogue this evening.
It comes after the PM earlier condemned this morning’s “vile” attack and, in a direct message to British Jews, said he’d do “everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve” (see 17.47 post).
Communities in Manchester are once again reeling from a terror attack – this time on a synagogue in Crumpsall on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
The prime minister has promised extra security at Jewish sites, but there had been previous warnings of a rise in religious hatred across the UK.
On our Daily podcast, Niall Paterson speaks to our home editor Jason Farrell, about the attack and the wider state of national security.
Warning: this episode contains audio of the moment leading up to police shooting the suspected attacker. 
Synagogues across the UK already had security measures in place today to mark Yom Kippur, but this has been stepped up after this morning’s attack.
Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer said he would do “everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve, starting with a more visible police presence”.
The images below show police and security teams stationed outside synagogues in the UK today…
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she’s “deeply shocked” by this morning’s “cowardly and brutal attack” in Manchester.
She said: “I stand with the families of the victims, the Jewish community, and the British nation as a whole. Anti-Semitism cannot and will not have any place in Europe.” 
Greater Manchester Police has confirmed the device the suspect was wearing when he carried out the attack – which police had feared was an explosive device – was “not viable”.
In an analysis of images of the device for Sky News, Rick Rickard from EODynamics suspects the device was more likely used to initiate fear.
The images capture a bomb disposal team carrying out an explosive ordnance “render safe procedure”, a process designed to make a suspected device safe.
“The design of the device is relatively small,” says Rickard.
This is unusual for person-borne IEDs [improvised explosive device] intended to be the main attack, which is usually a full vest with enhancements to increase the fragmentation.
“Based on what’s visible, I can’t say if there’s any enhancements such as fragmentation in it, but the belt has a smaller surface area than would be expected to cause the type of damage a suicide bomber would usually aim to achieve.”
Though the suspected attacker was seen carrying a mobile phone in pictures taken before he was killed, Rickard thinks it is unlikely it was a remote detonation device.
The photos also show officers putting items into an evidence bag, including what appears to be the intact belt with taped bundles attached, which has the appearance of a possible main charge, previously seen worn by the suspected perpetrator.
This suggests to Rickard that the item did not require further procedures to make it safe – and therefore was unlikely to contain explosives.
“EOD wouldn’t hand over explosive content to a scene-of-crime officer… if it’s going in the bag, it is probably confirmed to be a hoax.”
Similar tactics were used in the London Bridge stabbing attack in November 2019, where Usman Khan wore a hoax explosive device made from a weightlifting belt, components from an Xbox controller and cling film.    
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