The Met is failing London’s ultra-orthodox Jews

Is the Metropolitan Police fit for purpose? The question haunts the minds of many Londoners, particularly women, despite the resignation of Cressida Dick. But it haunts one community in particular: ultra-orthodox Jews.

The Met’s list of recent failures is almost as long as it is shameful. Sarah Everard, killed by an officer who kidnapped her in a mock arrest. Serving policemen jailed for sharing ghoulish pictures of two murdered sisters. The bungled VIP paedophile ring inquiry. The list of incompetence, corruption, moral degeneration and cover-ups goes on.

But the plight of ultra-orthodox Jews in north London continues to pass unnoticed. Theirs is an archaic way of life, insulated from the modern world, which values religion and tradition above everything else. They are often invisible to mainstream British culture, and have no desire to attract attention. Yet they should not be invisible to police.

In May, during the Gaza conflict, a ‘hate convoy’ of vehicles from Bradford drove through Jewish areas of north London, with passengers shouting threats of rape and death through a megaphone at Jewish passers-by.