Kemi Badenoch today warned of an 'epidemic of violence' against Jewish people and spoke of a need to 'drain the swamp' as she visited the scene of the Golders Green attack.

The Tory leader arrived in the north London suburb on Wednesday afternoon following the stabbing of two Jewish men in what has been declared a terror attack.

A 45-year-old man - said to have a history of serious violence and mental health issues - has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Jewish leaders called for tougher action on anti-Semitic violence after the double stabbing at around 11.15am.

As she visited the scene, Mrs Badenoch told local residents: 'I am not the Government, but I am telling them what I think needs to happen.

'We need to make sure that when people carry out these activities that they feel the full force of the law.

'We need to tackle Islamic extremism - this is something that is fuelling it, it's not the only thing, but it is fuelling it.

'We need to tackle the misinformation that we're seeing where people are attacking Jewish businesses in print, Gail's bakery and so on, we have to root this thing out.

'We've spent a lot of time being tolerant and hoping it would go away, but we need more action now, not just words.'

She added: 'I can see there are certain things that are fuelling this, we need to drain the swamp, there are things that can be done.'

Prior to her visit, and shortly after news of the attack emerged, Mrs Badenoch had posted on social media: 'Jewish people in our country are under constant attack.

'This is no longer a growing pattern. There is an epidemic of violence against Jewish people.

'It is now a national emergency and needs to be treated as such by the Government and public authorities.'