British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was "appalled" after a man carried out a ramming and stabbing terror attack on the morning of Yom Kippur outside a Manchester orthodox synagogue.
"The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific," he said, adding.
Starmer was at a meeting in Denmark when news of the attack broke, and has flown home earlier in order to chair an emergency meeting.
Later in the day, he confirmed that additional police assets are being deployed to synagogues across the country, and that he had spoken with Mark Gardner of the Community Security Trust, and Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester.
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “horrified” and her "first thoughts are with the victims, our brave police and emergency services."
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch called it an "outrageous, vile and disgusting attack."
"I know that many Jewish people in our country feel that they’re no longer safe and my heart goes out to the people who have been hurt by this, and everyone who’s been affected," she told the BBC.
'The area is a very large Jewish community next to a very large Muslim community'
MP for Blackley and Middleton South Graham Stringer told BBC Radio Manchester: "The area … is a very large Jewish community next to a very large Muslim community, and by and large community relations are excellent between all the different ethnic groups and religious groups, but there are always extreme people who want to damage those relationships and want to, in this case, damage Jews and the Jewish community."
"We have to work at it and we have to make sure these evil people do not damage our community, which is composed of many different kinds of religious beliefs and ethnic backgrounds."
Afzal Khan, Labour MP for Manchester Rusholme, said on X: "Horrifying news out of Crumpsall this morning following a major incident. Praying for the whole community on this holy day," but did not mention that the community was Jewish.
King Charles said his wife and him are "deeply shocked and saddened" and sent prayers to those affected by "this appalling incident."
The Israeli embassy in the UK condemned the attack: "that such an act of violence should be perpetrated on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, in a place of prayer and community, is abhorrent and deeply distressing."
Rabbi Jonathan Romain, emeritus rabbi of Maidenhead Synagogue, called the attack "every Rabbi’s or every Jewish person’s worst nightmare."
"Not only is this a sacred day, the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, but it’s also a time of mass gathering, and the time when the Jewish community, however religious or irreligious, gathers together."
British Muslim Trust CEO Akeela Ahmed said: "The attack in Manchester this morning is shocking and utterly abhorrent, and to commit these acts on Yom Kippur is sickening. We are deeply saddened by the loss of life, and our thoughts and best wishes go to all those affected."
"Violence is never the answer and Manchester must stand together against these actions," Ahmed added.
“Jews in Manchester, England, woke up this morning to pray, and were murdered in their own synagogue. More needs to be done to stamp out murderous ideologies. Governments the world over should spare us the statements about fighting antisemitism and instead ensure Jews are safe,” Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis stated.
The Manchester United soccer team will hold a minute of silence on Saturday in memory of the victims, KAN reported. The club's players will wear black armbands.