Antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes surge in London, Met data reveals

Antisemitic hate crimes in London rose 72% month-on-month in May, reaching 255 offences. Islamophobic incidents climbed 33%, hitting their highest level since August 2024.

Hate crime figures spike across London boroughs in May

Antisemitic hate crimes recorded by the Metropolitan Police in London rose 72 per cent between April and May this year, while Islamophobic offences increased by a third over the same period, The Independent reports.

The force logged 255 antisemitic hate crimes in May, up from 148 in April — the largest single monthly increase since late 2023. A Press Association analysis of Met data shows that 28 of the capital's 32 boroughs recorded at least one such offence during the month.

Barnet accounted for the highest concentration, with 76 incidents — 30 per cent of the London total. The borough includes Golders Green, Hendon and Finchley, areas with substantial Jewish communities. Hackney recorded 40 antisemitic offences, Westminster 29, Camden and Haringey 16 each, and Tower Hamlets 11.

Arson and online threats among recent incidents

An arson attack on a former synagogue in Whitechapel on 5 May was among a series of apparent antisemitic incidents in the capital. On 15 May, officers were deployed to Tower Hamlets after a video circulated online showing a man threatening that "Jews gonna get beheaded."

The current figures, while sharply elevated, remain below the peak recorded in October 2023, when antisemitic hate crimes reached 455 — up from 59 the previous month — coinciding with the Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.

NHS antisemitism review warns of 'national emergency'

The spike in recorded offences came in the same week that a Government-commissioned review found "evidence of routine ostracism of Jewish people" within the NHS. Some Jewish patients, the review found, had become reluctant to seek treatment, and staff had considered leaving the service due to concerns about antisemitism.

Lord John Mann, the Government's independent adviser on antisemitism and author of the review, said levels of anti-Jewish racism in the UK "constitute a national emergency."

Islamophobic offences reach highest level since August 2024

Met Police figures published this week show Islamophobic hate crimes rose 33 per cent in May, from 135 to 179 — the highest monthly total since August 2024. The offences had been on a downward trend at the end of last year and into early 2026 before rising sharply in March, the same month the UK Government published a new agreed definition of anti-Muslim hostility.

The Government said at the time that the definition was "an important step towards combating the unacceptable hostility that Muslims face," acknowledging that earlier attempts to define such hatred had "fallen short, leaving the concept ambiguous and highly contested."

Westminster recorded the highest number of Islamophobic hate crimes in May, at 21. The borough hosted the "Unite the Kingdom" rally organised by Tommy Robinson — whose legal name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — in central London that month. Some protesters outside Parliament called for the "removal of Islam." Robinson reposted a video of himself stating that, were he to become prime minister, he would "stop Islam," and adding: "It's time for many Muslims to leave this country."

Debbie Weekes-Bernard, London's deputy mayor for communities and social justice, subsequently criticised the event. "We know that there was a lot of Islamophobia on display and that is not something we stand for here," she said, describing the rhetoric as "not the London" she knows.

Source: The Independent