Quite right!: how antisemitism became a 'national emergency'
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The Spectator
4.3 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
To listen to this week's podcast in full, search 'Quite right!' wherever you get your podcasts.
This week: antisemitism in Britain, the government’s response – and where Reform may have gone too far.
After the attack in Golders Green, Michael and Madeline ask whether antisemitism has become a daily reality for Britain’s Jewish community – and whether ministers are willing to confront the Islamist extremism, hard-left apologism and far-right hatred that are feeding it.
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Transcript
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| 0:32.6 | Hello and welcome to The Spectator's podcast, Quite Right. And this week we will be discussing anti-Semitism |
| 0:38.4 | in the light of the Golders Green attacks and the government's so far totally inadequate |
| 0:44.2 | response. We'll also be looking at the local elections and what they might pretend for both |
| 0:49.3 | two-party politics, but also our economy and security, and we'll be considering in the light of those elections, |
| 0:56.1 | one of the most provocative and eye-catching ideas that has been put forward from reform on migration. |
| 1:03.4 | Following last week's horrific attack on two Jewish men in Golders Green, it seems that attacks on the Jewish community are becoming ever more normalized. |
| 1:12.7 | Is anti-Semitism now something that is a daily part of life in Britain? |
| 1:17.7 | Yes. And it's been apparent for some time now that anti-Semitism, in the words of Conner |
| 1:25.7 | Cruz O'Brien, the Irish historian and politician, |
| 1:28.5 | anti-Semitism is a light sleeper. And what we've seen is, I think, a growth in anti-Semitism, |
| 1:34.8 | actually over the last two decades, I think certainly since 9-11, for a host of reasons. |
| 1:41.6 | And there have been ebbs and flows overall, but it has been a growing tide, |
| 1:46.2 | and it's now reached the point where it's become, as Kemi Bidnock, I think has rightly said, |
| 1:51.4 | a national emergency. But it's still the case, as we speak, the Prime Minister's convening a |
| 1:57.3 | summit in number 10 to discuss it, but it's still the case that I think there is |
| 2:01.1 | inadequate understanding and certainly inadequate clarity from the government on why we face |
| 2:06.5 | this crisis and how to deal with it. I mean, I was interested to see that Sarah Sakman, |
| 2:10.9 | the MP for Golders Green, wrote an op-ed for the Guardian in which she talked about the attacks |
... |
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