“JEWS are the only community in the country who need security at our place of worship,” a Jewish friend told me on the day after the Manchester terror attack.
And his words shocked me to the core. Because it is true.
The blood of the innocent stains both Israel and Gaza, and it has now reached our shores[/caption]
And because, for the Jewish community, the terrorist attack on Manchester has been coming for a long time.
This is a country that often seems obsessed with racism — our antennae twitching at the very first hint of it.
And yet Jew-hatred gets a free pass.
We think of ourselves as a kind, tolerant, inclusive society.
And that is true.
But we are also a country that has allowed virulent antisemitism to crawl back into the UK.
That is surely the chilling lesson of Manchester.
In the UK in 2025, some of our neighbours are living in fear. And that is because British Jews are — wrongly, shamefully, unforgivably — being held directly accountable for the actions of the state of Israel.
In my little corner of North West London, there are plenty of Jewish people, and some of them are my friends.
There is not one of them that has not felt the threat of Jew-hatred.
There is not one of them, I am guessing, who would not think, and then think again, before wearing a symbol of their faith. And that is wrong.
The thought that a woman wearing a Star of David or a schoolchild in a skull cap has put themselves in danger by the act of being Jewish is heartbreaking.
We are a free land. A tolerant land. A safe land. Unless you are a Jew.
Earlier this year, the Labour Government commissioned advice on the definition of anti-Muslim hatred. And of course there is Islamophobia in this country.
And it is as abhorrent as hating Jews or blacks or the white working-class girls who were the victims of the rape gangs.
But are Labour seriously suggesting that if there is one community that is singled out for racism in this country, it is Muslims?
It is the Jews who are singled out for special treatment.
The Jews who need guards on their places of worship.
The Jews who bled and died in Manchester.
It is one of history’s bitter ironies that, after the orgy of rape, murder and kidnap perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, hatred of Jews has increased.
Talk about blaming the victims.
But the painful truth is that this has not happened in a vacuum.
The state of Israel has lashed out in fury — not unlike the way the West lashed out after 9/11.
Back then, Saudi Arabia terrorists murdered 3,000 people on live television.
Bush and Blair invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. It never works.
Hamas slaughtered the innocent. And innocent Palestinians have been slaughtered in turn.
Whose God is served? Whose cause finds justice?
The blood of the innocent stains both Israel and Gaza, and it has now reached our shores.
Lie needs calling out
Jews in the UK are being held directly accountable for the acts of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu – pictured here with Donald Trump[/caption]
And here is perhaps the most painful truth of all.
Jews in the UK are being held directly accountable for the acts of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu — a man who many Jews in this country despise.
Netanyahu blames Keir Starmer for “siding with Hamas”.
I am no fan of our Prime Minister.
But this is a lie that needs to be called out.
Netanyahu carries blame for Manchester and the rise of antisemitism.
What Hamas did to the Jews on October 7 was an obscenity.
But the slaughter of Palestinians is also an obscenity.
The persecution of Palestinians on the West Bank is a crime against humanity.
Nobody mentions the two-state solution any more — the idea that one day the Palestinians and the Jews will live side by side.
That dream has died.
What is happening in the Middle East feels like a war of extermination.
I have a daughter who, like many young people, is distressed by what she sees happening in Gaza.
She has even been on the marches. But her best friend, the girl she grew up with, is Jewish.
And I see in my daughter, a wisdom — and compassion, and humanity, and bravery — that we could all use.
The innocent have been slaughtered on both sides of that divide.
In the kibbutz of Israel on October 7.
In the ruins of Gaza. And now in the streets of Manchester.
But until we stop hating each other, the killing of the innocents will continue.
BRING BACK DARCY
A STRICTLY source suggests that sharing the dance-off deciding vote among all of the judges will be an “exciting addition.” I can’t see how.
I understand the need to protect head judge Shirley Ballas from online trolls who have spewed abuse at her for years – but this feels like surrendering to those obnoxious online scumbags.
“For seven years,” said Shirley, “I have been responsible for one gruelling decision. But that’s about to change.”
Now the judges will take turns having the casting vote.
But I bet most Strictly viewers liked the idea of a senior judge pressing the eject button when a dance-off is too close to call.
The show will be diminished without someone shouldering that responsibility.
They should bring back ballerina and former judge Darcy Bussell.
I don’t think Darcy would think twice about sending home some two-left-footed celebrity who nobody has ever heard of.
All ballet dancers are hard as nails.
Future’s bright for red lippy
RED lips are apparently all the rage because of Taylor Swift.
A new pucker-up poll of 2,000 women by research firm Perspectus Global reveals that almost half of those surveyed believe red lips to be the ultimate fashion statement.
Red lips are the ultimate fashion statement thanks to Taylor Swift[/caption]
Celebrity hair and make-up artist Liv Davey says: “The red lip never loses its appeal. Something about the simplicity makes it so beautiful – seamless yet alluring.”
Taylor Swift herself has just released her 12th album, Life Of A Showgirl, and on the cover her lips are so gloriously glossy you can almost see the stain on Travis Kelce’s collar. But were luscious red lips ever really out of fashion?
The style icons cited as popularising red lips include Marilyn Monroe (the Fifties), Debbie Harry (Eighties and Nineties), Madonna (Eighties, Nineties and Noughties) and Taylor Swift (now).
As far as I can tell, crimson cakeholes only ever went out of fashion for a few months in the mid-Sixties.
Red lips have made more comebacks than Elton John.
LONDON FALLING
IN the lawless Dodge City of London, Mayor Sadiq Khan has agreed to spend £66million over the next three years on woke cultural projects.
Highlights include Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History month, a series of LGBT events and Black History month.
Any chance of a Stop The Phone Thefts week, Mr Mayor?
Crush The Shoplifters month?
Stop Knife Crime fortnight?
No chance at all.
Losing dog is brutal
LEWIS Hamilton’s tribute to his dog Roscoe, who died in the F1 driver’s arms last Sunday night, moved me to tears.
“After four days on life support, fighting with every bit of strength he had, I had to make the hardest decision of my life and say goodbye to Roscoe,” Lewis told his 41million Instagram followers.
Lewis Hamilton has announced the death of his dog, Roscoe[/caption]
“He never stopped fighting, right until the very end.
“I feel so grateful and honoured to have shared my life with such a beautiful soul, an angel and true friend.”
If you have loved and lost a dog, you will know exactly how Lewis Hamilton feels.
That cocktail of gratitude and grief.
Feeling blessed for sharing the heartbreakingly short span of a dog’s life.
The profound shock that losing this faithful friend hurts as much as anything has ever hurt you.
Lewis, ten million hearts go out to you today.
We lost Stan, our Cavalier King Charles spaniel, last year.
Stan was 12 and a half, exactly the same age as Roscoe.
Not one hour goes by that I do not think of Stan.
And when I recall my beautiful four-legged friend, huge emotions – laughter and tears and everything in-between – are never far away.
No matter how much they love us, we grow away from our parents.
No matter how much we love them, our children grow away from us.
But a dog never grows away from you.
Your bond on the last day is the same as the first day.
And that is why losing them cuts so deep.
ED’S AIR MILES
CLIMATE change fanatic Ed Miliband racked up 50,000 air miles in his first nine months of telling the rest of us not to fly.
The adorably goofy Energy Secretary visited countries including the USA, Brazil and Azerbaijan between July 2024 and March 2025 in his bid to single-handedly save the planet.
“We make no apologies for representing the British people,” sniffs a spokesperson for Ed’s department.
Miliband’s trips cost £75,168.
It means 1,200 trees will need to be planted to make up for the estimated 12.2 tons of CO2 emissions generated by Ed Miliband’s hypocritical globe-trotting.
Economy class, Ed?
Didn’t think so!
THE BBC has picked the wrong moment in history to drop that national institution, the Oxford v Cambridge boat race.
Does the Beeb think the university boat race is elitist?
These days, most students at Oxford and Cambridge are educated at state schools.
Within a few years, the boat race is going to be as working class as darts.
