Counter-terror Police and MI5 to be on raised alert for weeks

MI5 and counter-terror police will operate at a heightened state of alert in the coming weeks, reflecting concerns that the Manchester terror attack risks being followed by others during a period including the second anniversary of the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel.

- Dan Sabbagh

Policing at synagogues across the country is to be increased. The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, promised "high visibility" patrols in and outside Jewish places of worship to reassure communities and to deter any further terror threats, while police forces elsewhere in the UK made similar commitments.

Initial inquiries remain at an early stage though the central scenario is that the killer had an Islamist motivation. Last night there was no information in the public domain as to whether he may have been radicalised by the Israeli military campaign and deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.

The attack that began around 9.30am at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, was not sophisticated.

Though there were concerns that the attacker was carrying an explosive and appeared to have a vest and items strapped to his waist, the devices were fakes. Victims at the synagogue, marking Yom Kippur, were stabbed with a knife.