“One day, this terrible war will be over. The time will come when we’ll be people again and not just Jews.”

I keep coming back to those words from Anne Frank’s diary. They sum up what I feel as a British Jew and as the MP for the largest British Jewish community, in the face of the escalating threats, violence and terror.

These days, I am holding my daughters’ hands that little bit tighter. British Jews are tired and scared. We want to be able to go about our daily lives, not just as Jews but as Britons. We want to go to work, drop our children off at school and pray free from fear.

The threat is immediate and severe, and the government must continue to strain every sinew, as Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, put it, to keep people safe. In the last few days, I have engaged with the very top of government and together we have put plans in place to step up policing, protect Jewish spaces, strengthen our criminal laws and ensure tougher action from our prosecutors and courts.

But British Jews do not want to live behind ever higher walls.

No amount of government money,........

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