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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Claire Phipps, Jamie Grierson, Nadia Khomami, Andrew Sparrow and Chris Johnston

Islamic State claims responsibility for terror attack on London – as it happened

Rolling coverage continues on our new live blog:

What we know so far: the attackers

  • Isis has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack, although this has not been verified. In a statement published late on Sunday by the Amaq news agency, which usually carries its claims, it said:

A detachment of Islamic State fighters executed yesterday’s London attack.

  • Metropolitan police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said detectives were urgently investigating whether the three terror suspects were “assisted or supported” by a wider network.
  • The names of the three men have not been released. Police say they believe all the attackers were killed after armed officers “fired an unprecedented number of rounds” to shoot them dead during their attack on Borough Market.
  • One of the suspected attackers was described by neighbours as a married father of two who attended local mosques.
  • One neighbour told the Guardian she had reported the man to police two years ago after fears he was attempting to radicalise children.
  • Read more.

Writing in the Times today, Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, says he agrees with Theresa May that British Muslims need to do more to tackle extremism:

Speaking as a Muslim myself, we need to ask ourselves searching questions …

There’s no avoiding the fact that these people think they are Muslims. They identify as Muslims. And they carry out their attacks – ignorantly, offensively – in the name of Islam. That’s why, although we all share the responsibility for tackling terrorism, there’s a special, unique burden on the Muslim community …

We need them to set off on the path to peace rather than the road to war. We need to offer not just a counternarrative, which rebuts the extremists, but a positive and self-confident narrative that promotes pluralistic, British values – and their compatibility with an Islamic life. And that message can best come from within the Muslim community.

Gerard Vowls was heading home after a football game when he found himself in the middle of the attack. He attempted to distract the terrorists by shouting at them and throwing bar stools and bottles at them: “I was just throwing it at them, trying to get them to chase me so I could get them out into the main road, draw them out to the main road to where the police could see them.”

‘Oi, cowards!’: witness threw chairs and bottles at London Bridge attackers

What we know about London attack victims

  • Seven people were killed, and 48 injured people were taken to hospital.
  • Of these, 21 are in a critical condition.
  • Only one of those killed has so far been named: a Canadian woman, Christine Archibald, from Castlegar, British Columbia.
  • The French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, confirmed that a French man was among those killed, but he has not been named.
  • Seven other French citizens were reported to have been injured, four of them critically.
  • Two Australians – Candice Hedge, from Brisbane, and Andrew Morrison, from Darwin – were wounded, and the Canberra government says there are two more “about whom we have very real concerns”.
  • An off-duty Metropolitan police officer and a British Transport police officer who confronted the terrorists with a baton were injured.
  • A British man was shot in the head by a stray police bullet but was not severely injured and is expected to make a full recovery.
  • New Zealander Oliver Dowling was stabbed in the face, neck and stomach. His partner Marie Bondeville was also injured.
  • Geoff Ho, a Sunday Express journalist, was in intensive care after being stabbed in the throat.

Updated

The Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has suggested that four Australians could be among those injured or killed in the London attack.

Two – Candice Hedge, from Brisbane, and Andrew Morrison, from Darwin – have already been identified among those wounded in the attack. Now Turnbull says there are two more “about whom we have very real concerns”.

Updated

Japan has warned its nationals to avoid places it says could be “potential targets” in London, including sightseeing spots, department stores, markets, concert venues and political rallies.

The country’s foreign ministry said in a travel advisory that Japanese visitors to Britain should “pay close attention to their surroundings, and leave quickly if they see anything suspicious”.

The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has voiced solidarity with the British people in a message to Theresa May. Abe offered his condolences to the victims of Saturday’s attack, adding: “I express solidarity with the people of Britain at this difficult time.”

Abe said: “Japan is determined to fight terrorism, working hand in hand with Britain and other members of the international community.”

We have some further information on the 12 arrests made by police on Sunday investigating the London Bridge attack.

Four addresses were raided in east London, but at two of those properties nobody was arrested. Twelve people were arrested at the two other addresses.

Of the 12, seven are women, aged between 19 and 60.

Five men, aged between 28 and 55, were also detained, but one – a 55-year-old man – has already been released without charge.

Eleven remain in custody.

All are detained on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act, which means they can be held for up to two weeks before a decision must be made whether to charge or release them.

On Monday, the first funeral of one of the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack will take place.

Eilidh MacLeod, who was 14, will be remembered in a ceremony at Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea in Castlebay on the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides.

Her friend Laura MacIntyre was badly injured in the bombing and remains in hospital.

Eilidh’s parents, Roddy and Marion MacLeod, paid tribute to her ahead of the funeral:

Two weeks ago today we lost our darling daughter and sister, Eilidh MacLeod, in one of the cruellest ways possible.

Most of Eilidh’s happiest times were spent in the Western Isles, particularly Barra and Vatersay, with her friends and family, so we are pleased to have her back home among those she loved so much.

Today, as we take Eilidh on her final journey, our one hope is that her funeral is a real celebration of her life and the wonderful person she was.

Eilidh’s infectious personality touched everyone she met and it has been a privilege and an honour to have her as our daughter.

We will always remember her as a truly beautiful girl inside and out, eternally young, loved by all and forever in our hearts.

Mourners carry the coffin of Eilidh MacLeod, which is draped with the Barra flag, across Traigh Mhor beach after the body of the 14 year-old was flown home ahead of her funeral.
Mourners carry the coffin of Eilidh MacLeod, draped with the Barra flag, across Traigh Mhor beach after the body of the 14-year-old was flown home ahead of her funeral. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/AFP/Getty Images

One of the seven victims killed in Saturday night’s attack has been named as Christine Archibald, who was from Canada.

Her family has issued a statement asking people to “honour her by making your community a better place”:

We grieve the loss of our beautiful, loving daughter and sister. She had room in her heart for everyone and believed strongly that every person was to be valued and respected.

She lived this belief, working in a shelter for the homeless until she moved to Europe to be with her fiancé.

She would have had no understanding of the callous cruelty that caused her death.

Please honour her by making your community a better place. Volunteer your time and labour or donate to a homeless shelter. Tell them Chrissy sent you.

This undated image provided by the Archibald family shows Christine Archibald. A Canadian woman who was among the several people killed in the London attacks on Saturday, June 3, 2017, has been identified by her family as Christine Archibald. The Archibald family said in a statement released by the Canadian government on Sunday that she worked in a homeless shelter until she moved to Europe to be with her fiance. (Courtesy of the Archibald family via AP)
Christine Archibald, in a photo provided by her family. Photograph: AP

Joining Ariana Grande for the One Love Manchester concert on Sunday night were – among others – Katy Perry, Coldplay, Liam Gallagher, Take That, Robbie Williams, Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. Here’s a quick run-through the highlights:

Ariana Grande’s ‘One Love Manchester’ concert

Arrests latest

  • 12 people were arrested by police on Sunday after searches in east London.
  • One 55-year-old man was later released without charge.
  • Seven women and four men, aged between 19 and 60, remain in custody.

According to White House pool reporters, Donald Trump has been speaking again about the attack on London:

President Trump described the London attack as a “horrific terrrorist attack” and said he spoke with PM May to “express our unwavering support”.

President said the US will do everything in its power to “bring those that are guilty to justice”. Trump said: “America sends our thoughts and prayers.

“We renew our resolve, stronger than ever before, to protect the United States and its allies from a vile enemy that has waged war on innocent life. And it has gone on too long. This bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end. As president I will do what is necessary to prevent this threat from spreading to our shores.”

Andrew Morrison, who was stabbed in the attack, has described how he got away from one of the London Bridge attackers. The Australian was walking across the street after watching the Champions League final when “all of a sudden a guy comes up [with] a knife”.

Morrison is one of three Australians known to have been caught up in the rampage that started on London Bridge.

This video contains strong language.

Darwin man describes escape from London attacker

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, appeared on stage at the One Love Manchester concert tonight and sent a message of support to London:

We have received so many messages in recent days, so tonight, Manchester, let’s send our own to our friends in London who are going through the same as we were going through.

We know how you are feeling but we will stand with you and we will get through this together.

There was an increased police presence, too, at the One Love Manchester concert – and many officers took the chance to show the positive spirit that infused the event:

My colleague Chris Johnston reports that there remains a strong police presence around central London tonight – a van containing several officers is parked on Blackfriars bridge, for example.

Three Australians are believed to have been caught up in the London Bridge terrorism attack, Julie Bishop has said.

The foreign minister told ABC radio on Monday she had spoken to the father of an Australian woman who is recovering in hospital, while another who received stitches was on his way back home.

“We’re still making inquiries in respect to the circumstances of the third Australian,” Bishop said after speaking to the high commissioner in London, Alexander Downer.

A Brisbane woman, Candice Hedge, 30, was badly wounded when she was slashed in the throat in Saturday’s deadly attack. She is recovering in St Thomas’s hospital in London.

Hedge’s mother, Kim del Toro, told Fairfax Media her daughter had received emergency surgery but “she is going to be fine, thank goodness”.

Also injured was Andrew Morrison, from Darwin. In a video posted on Reddit, Morrison, who had a blood-stained cloth wrapped around his neck, said he had been stabbed after leaving Belushi’s bar in London Bridge where he had been watching the Champions League final.

“All of a sudden this guy comes up with a knife … I push him off. I walk into a pub and say, ‘Someone help me, I’ve been stabbed,’” he said on the video.

In a speech in Carlisle on Sunday night, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Theresa May of attempting to protect the public “on the cheap”, following Saturday’s terror attack in London.

Urging the British people to “stand together”, Corbyn said the police and security services “must get the resources they need” to safeguard the country.

Jeremy Corbyn: ‘You can’t protect the public on the cheap’

This is Claire Phipps picking up the live blog again.

CBC News in Canada has more details on Chrissy Archibald, named as one of the victims who died in the London attack. CBC reports:

The Canadian woman who was killed during the attack in London died in her fiancé’s arms on London Bridge, according to her future sister-in-law.

Christine Archibald, from Castlegar, British Columbia, was among the seven people killed in what UK prime minister Theresa May has described as a “brutal terrorist attack”.

Archibald was engaged to Tyler Ferguson. His sister, Cassie Ferguson, said her brother was with Archibald on London Bridge during the attack.

“He is broken into a million pieces,” Ferguson told CBC News in a Facebook Messenger conversation. “He held her and watched her die in his arms.”

Updated

That’s it from me - my colleague Claire Phipps is taking over now.

Our picture editor Arnel Hecimovic has compiled a gallery of images from the Manchester concert on Sunday night:

Updated

The Met has given an update for residents in the Borough area, some of whom face a second night unable to return home.

As we head into Monday, this is the front page of tomorrow’s print edition of the Guardian:

Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweets:

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin tonight.
The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin tonight. Photograph: Clemens Bilan/EPA

Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus.
Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus. Photograph: Reuters

Speaking of the concert, event organisers said £2m had been raised by text and online donations during the three-hour broadcast.

The British Red Cross said more than £10m had been raised for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund in total.

Meanwhile, Ariana Grande said in a tweet on Saturday that she was re-releasing One Last Time as a charity single, with proceeds going towards the campaign.

If you missed the Manchester One Love concert this evening, here are some highlights:

Manchester benefit concert goes ahead despite London attack

London Bridge station will be exit-only when it reopens on Monday morning from 5am.

Updated

Islamic State claims responsibility for attack

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack in London on Saturday night that killed seven and left 21 fighting for their lives.

The head of the Site intelligence group says the terror group claimed its fighters carried out the attack.

“A detachment of Islamic State fighters executed yesterday’s London attack,” said a statement posted on the militant group’s Amaq media agency website.

Updated

First victim named

A producer at Canada’s CTV News has tweeted a statement from the family of Chrissy Archibald, who was one of the victims of last night’s attack in London. She was from Castlegar in British Columbia.

Updated

Further detail from the Met police statement about the 12 arrests today.

A 38-year-old woman was arrested at “address 1” in Barking.

A further 11 people were arrested at “address 2” in Barking.

They included five males: a 28-year-old man, a 52-year-old man, a 55-year-old man, a 27-year-old man, and a 55-year-old man who has since been released without charge.

Six women were also arrested at “address 2”: a 49-year-old woman, a 60-year-old, a 19-year-old woman, a 27-year-old female, a 24-year-old female, and a 53-year-old woman.

Updated

London Bridge station to reopen on Monday

Good news for commuters:

Met police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley has issued a statement:

We would like to thank the media for their continued support, restraint and understanding in not speculating as to who the suspects are in this fast-moving investigation.

I would like to assure them and the public that this is directly assisting the progression of the investigation and confirm we will release the identities of the three men directly responsible for the attacks yesterday, Saturday 3 June, as soon as operationally possible.

Officers have been working tirelessly to process the crime scenes and release the cordons. We are hopeful that some of the cordons around London Bridge station will be released during the course of tomorrow morning, but consult TfL website before you set out on your journeys into and around London tomorrow.

The public can expect to see additional police – both armed and unarmed officers – across the capital as you would expect in these circumstances, and our security and policing plans for events are being reviewed. The public will also see increased physical measures on London’s bridges to keep the public safe.

Officers have made 12 arrests and are at present searching four properties.

There have been no arrests at two residential addresses in Newham, although a number of people have been spoken to.

During the arrest stage today, no officers have deployed a Taser electronic weapon or a firearm.

All of those arrested have been detained under the Terrorism Act.

Updated

Ariana Grande has performed her hit One Last Time and is now giving us a rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow to end the show in Manchester.

The singer was overcome with emotion at one point during the song and had to pause before regaining her composure to continue.

Updated

Back to the hits now for Liam with the Oasis hit Live Forever.

No sign of Noel, but Chris Martin from Coldplay has strapped on an acoustic guitar and popped back on stage.

Updated

Song number two from the former Oasis frontman is his, erm, new single Wall of Glass.

Liam Gallagher is one of the surprise guests at the Manchester concert and has opened with Rock ’n’ Roll Star.

Updated

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has tweeted tonight:

Updated

Ariana Grande (right) with Miley Cyrus.
Ariana Grande (right) with Miley Cyrus. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/AP

Ariana Grande says she was inspired to change her set list for the One Love Manchester concert after the mother of one of the teenage victims said her daughter would have wanted to hear the hits.

Grande appeared on stage at the Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground in an an oversized white One Love Manchester sweatshirt and seemed overcome by emotion at points as she was joined by a string of musical stars.

She told the crowd: “I want to thank you so much for coming tonight and being so happy and strong and unified. I love you guys so much. This night is the kind of thing the world really needs right now.”

Grande said she had not planned to play so many of her big hits but changed her mind after meeting the mother of Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, who was among the victims of the blast that killed 22 people at at her concert last week.

She said: “I had the pleasure of meeting Olivia’s mummy a few days ago and I started to cry and gave her a big hug and she said, ‘Stop crying, because Olivia wouldn’t have wanted you to cry.’

“And then she told me Olivia would have wanted to hear the hits. We had a different show planned and we had a rehearsal yesterday and we changed everything.”

Updated

Coldplay are now on stage in Manchester and playing hits including Viva la Vida.

Updated

Shortly before 9pm a white, contained flatbed truck was seen leaving London Bridge, going north, with what is thought to have been the terrorists’ van inside.

Updated

Justin Bieber is now on stage and says it’s an honour to be performing at the Manchester concert.

He has a guitar. That can only mean it’s time for his downbeat hit Love Yourself.

Efforts to prevent people turning to terrorism will be stepped up in the wake of the London Bridge attack, one of the UK’s largest Islamic organisations has said.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) condemned Saturday’s atrocity at London Bridge, which has claimed the lives of at least seven people, as an “outrage” and said it would launch a new grassroots campaign to make sure that suspicious activity is reported to the authorities.

“Last night, we witnessed – once again – horror inflicted on our streets. This is the third time in as many months. They are truly shocking and we condemn them in the strongest terms,” said its secretary-general, Harun Khan.

He said the UK needed to “stand together, and for our part, in particular, we can work harder to help our young people relate to this country and the faith which has the tools to make them modern citizens”.

While he condemned the attack, Khan said it was not for the Muslim community as a whole to apologise for it, because only the attackers were responsible for their actions.

“It is my duty as a Muslim – and for every Muslim – to stand up and condemn a wrongful deed ... It is a duty of every Muslim to speak out against this kind of injustice. So, I am not apologising for what they have done and nobody should have to apologise for them because they made a choice to do something. But, what I can do as a citizen and as a Muslim is condemn their actions.”

Updated

Katy Perry.
Katy Perry. Photograph: Dave Hogan for One Love Manchest/PA

The pop megastar Katy Perry – sporting an arresting peroxide crew cut hairdo no less – has just hit the stage in Manchester with an acoustic version of her hit Part of Me.

“I encourage you to choose love, even when that is difficult,” she tells the crowd.

Updated

BBC pop writer Mark Savage is watching the Manchester concert on BBC1:

Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas told the crowd at the fundraising concert: “Manchester, London, we are here together and we are one.”

Ariana Grande then introduced Imogen Heap, who sat at the piano to sing Whatcha Say before a video message from David Beckham was played. He said: “As a father, what happened made me truly sad and it’s a day we’ll never forget. I’m proud of everyone there today, everyone in the crowd and all the artists.”

Grande later joined a choir from Parrs Wood high school on stage, who sang their own version of her song, My Everything, before she welcomed her boyfriend Mac Miller on to the stage, saying: “Tonight is all about love, am I right?”

The pair danced together as they performed their 2013 collaboration The Way and Miller’s track Dang!

Updated

Ariana Grande performing during the One Love Manchester benefit concert

Ariana Grande has just finished performing with the Black Eyed Peas at the Manchester One Love concert, where the crowd was treated to their megahit Where is the Love?

Updated

Police were warned about suspect two years ago

Police were warned about the main suspect radicalising children in a local park two years ago, a neighbour has revealed.

Erica Gasparri, an Italian mother of three who lives in the same complex, said she confronted the man, known locally as “Abs”, after her son came home and said: “Mummy, I want to be a Muslim.”

Gasparri then went to the park, where she said a “Pakistani man” had stated: “I’m ready to do whatever I need to do in the name of Allah. I am ready in the name of Allah to do what needs to be done, including killing my own mother.”

She said: “I took four photographs of him and gave them to the police. They rang Scotland Yard when I was there and said the information had been passed on to Scotland Yard. They were very concerned. They told me to delete the photos for my own safety which I did but then I heard nothing. That was two years ago. No-one came to me. If they did this could have been prevented and lives could have been saved.

“He would go down to the park and talk to them about Islam and he also came to the houses and gave the kids money and sweets during Ramadan.”
Gasparri said she told other neighbours including a Polish woman, who then tipped off the suspect that he had been reported to police.

Today that woman said she was sorry: “I didn’t know he was a bad guy. Maybe I was blind.”

In a stand-up row near the suspect’s flat on Sunday evening, Erica told the Polish woman: “My first impressions was he was a terrorist radicaliser.”

Met Police said they were aware of the claims, but had no comment at this stage, as they had not released any information about any of the suspects.

Updated

Much praise on Twitter for this tweet from the US Embassy in London, which is somewhat different in tone to those from President Trump earlier in the day.

Little Mix have taken to the stage in Manchester now to perform their hit Wings.

One of the quartet, Jade Thirlwall, told the crowd: “We are so, so happy to be part of this incredible day, thank you. The song we have chosen to do for you guys we wrote together a few years ago in the hope it would empower people to stand together and to not let anything bring them down.”

Updated

A better-known song from Ariana Grande now: Break Free. The crowd is singing along noisily: “This is the part where I break free...”

Just the two songs from the 23-year-old American performer tonight.

Updated

Ariana Grande opens her set with the track Be Alright – and some top-notch vogueing from her backing dancers.

Updated

Ariana Grande is about to take to the stage at the One Love concert in Manchester. “Manchester, your bravery is our hope,” says the pop star’s manager, Scooter Braun, introducing her.

Updated

A small sign of normality returning to the London Bridge area – Borough underground station is once again open to commuters.

London Bridge underground and mainline station remains closed, however, and there is ongoing disruption to Thameslink services and some trains from Victoria as well.

Updated

A vigil for the victims will be held in Potters Fields Park, Southwark, on Monday night, according to a statement on the London Assembly website.

“The Mayor invites all Londoners – and everyone visiting our city - to come together in solidarity to remember those who have lost their lives in Saturday’s attack, to express sympathy with their families and loved ones and to show the world that we stand united in the face of those who seek to harm us and our way of life. We will never let these cowards win and we will never be cowed by terrorism.”
Members of the public can lay floral tributes at the flagpoles at City Hall.

Corbyn criticises Trump for his comments on London Bridge attack

And here are some more lines from Jeremy Corbyn’s speech, for the full text released after he spoke.

  • Corbyn criticised President Trump for his comments about the London Bridge attack. (See 12.35pm.)

At this time it is more important than ever that we stay united in our communities. It is the strength of our communities that gets us through these awful times as London mayor Sadiq Khan recognised but which the current occupant in the White House has neither the grace nor the sense to grasp.

Whether we are Muslim or Christian, black or white, male or female, gay or straight, we are united by our values, by our determination for a better world, and that we can build a better society.

  • Corbyn said that, if he wins the election, he will commission a report on Friday on the changing nature of the terrorist threat.

If Labour is elected I will commission a report from the security services on Friday on the changing nature of the terrorist threat.

  • He defended Labour’s plans to raise tax for the rich, saying tax “underpins our peaceful, tolerant and civilised society” by funding the police.

The choice you face on 8 June is a Conservative party which has made clear it will press on with another five years of austerity and cuts to essential public services to pay for even more tax handouts to the richest and the big corporations.

Or the Labour party, which is guaranteeing 95% of taxpayers will pay no extra tax but is asking the best off and the largest companies to pay a bit more to fund our hospitals, police, schools, decent pensions and childcare to invest in good jobs and a growing economy for the many not the few.

I don’t hesitate to make the case for more tax from those who can afford it.

It is taxation that underpins our peaceful, tolerant and civilised society the police, security services, fire and rescue service, our NHS they have all suffered cuts to pay for tax giveaways for the big corporations and the very richest.

  • He said if he won the election he would ensure those who acted bravely in the London Bridge attack are honoured.

If I am elected prime minister on 8 June I will be asking the commissioners of the Met police and the British Transport police for the names of those whose bravery should be commended, to acknowledge their heroism and of many others in our emergency services and among the public who intervened.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn's speech on London Bridge attack – summary

Jeremy Corbyn has delivered his speech. Here are the key points from extracts released under embargo in advance.

  • Corbyn said that he approved of the police using “whatever force is necessary” to protect life.

Our priority must be public safety and I will take whatever action is necessary and effective to protect the security of our people and our country. That includes full authority for the police to use whatever force is necessary to protect and save life as they did last night, as they did in Westminster in March.

This is intended to finally quash the confusion created by an interview Corbyn gave to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg in November 2015 when he said he was “not happy with a shoot-to-kill policy in general”. His comments were taken as meaning that he was not happy about the prospect of the police shooting marauding terrorists killing civilians, but it is more likely that Corbyn thought he was being asked about terrorists being shot rather than apprehended (as “shoot-to-kill” operated at one point in Northern Ireland). The BBC Trust upheld a complaint about Kuennsberg’s report, but BBC News said it did not agree with the trust’s finding. Today Corbyn supporters have been protesting angrily about the fact that the original report is currently the fourth most watched video on the BBC news website.

  • He criticised Theresa May for ignoring warnings about the impact of police cuts.

You cannot protect the public on the cheap. The police and security services must get the resources they need, not 20,000 police cuts.

Theresa May was warned by the Police Federation but she accused them of “crying wolf”.

We will recruit another 10,000 new police officers, including more armed police, as well as 1,000 more security services staff to support our communities and help keep us safe.

  • He said that it would be “completely wrong” to suspend campaigning any longer or to delay the election.

The aim of the terrorists is plainly to derail our democracy and disrupt or even halt this election.

The general election is of course about the argument between the Labour and Conservative parties and our very different visions and plans for the future of our country.

But it is also now about something even bigger. It is about the struggle between terrorism and democracy itself.

The mass murderers who brought terror to our streets in London and Manchester want our election to be halted. They want democracy halted. They want their violence to overwhelm our right to vote in a fair and peaceful election and to go about our lives freely.

That is why it would be completely wrong to postpone next Thursday’s vote, or to suspend our campaigning any longer.

Our democratic values must be maintained. We must resist Islamophobia and division and turn out on 8 June united in our determination to show our democracy is strong. And, yes, we do need to have some difficult conversations starting with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states that have funded and fuelled extremist ideology.

It is no good Theresa May suppressing a report into the foreign funding of extremist groups. We have to get serious about cutting off the funding to these terror networks, including Isis, here and in the Middle East.

The reference to “difficult conversations” is particularly pointed, because May used the phrase herself in her speech this morning. (See 11.56am.) She said tackling extremism would involve “some difficult, and often embarrassing, conversations”.

Updated

At the Manchester tribute concert, Robbie Williams has taken over from Take That. He changed the lyrics to his song Strong in tribute to victims.

“Manchester we’re strong, we’re strong,” he sang in chorus with the audience. “We’re still singing our songs, our songs, our songs.”

Updated

The Manchester tribute concert has just started. Around 50,000 people are expected at the three-hour concert, which is being broadcast on the BBC.

Marcus Mumford from the band Mumford & Sons has opened the show, saying: “Let’s not be afraid.”

Updated

Summary

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, is due to give a speech in Carlisle shortly. According to a briefing from the party in advance, it is intended to be “statesmanlike”. He will talk about the London Bridge attack, and about Labour’s values.

According to Sky’s Darren McCaffrey, he will also speak about President Trump’s response to the atrocity. (See 3.29pm.)

French man killed in attack - French foreign minister confirms

A French man is among those killed in last night’s attack, theforeign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, has confirmed, according to French media and Reuters.

They report that seven people from France were injured in last night’s attack, four of them critically. One person is still missing.

The French government had earlier said four of those injured in the attack were from France.

Le Drian tweeted that he would be in London tomorrow.

Updated

Leaders of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) have backed comments by Theresa May saying “enough is enough” after the London Bridge attack, and said they would be stepping up efforts to curb Islamic extremism in Britain.

Muslim community representatives from around the country were led by the MCB secretary-general, Harun Rashid, who condemned Islamic extremism as a “death cult”, and said “British Muslims must play our part” in turning people away from the ideology.

Today’s attack makes us all angry, it makes me angry. And we want to do something about it. That is why we agree with the prime minister that things must change.

Enough is enough. We are ready to have those difficult conversations, as equal citizens with an equal stake in this fight.

I am pleased that the prime minister is speaking about conversation, it implies that we must listen to one another and work together to be part of a truly United Kingdom.

Rashid said the MCB would now initiate a new campaign with mosques to report suspicious activity, and were “extending our hand of partnership and cooperation to the government and prime minister”.

We want to turn people’s minds away from this death cult.

We want to ensure families are not torn apart by being either victims of terrorist outrages, or finding out that someone they knew perpetrated such acts.

Updated

One witness, who wishes to remain anonymous, was drinking in the George Inn on Borough High Street when the attack happened. They said:

We were enjoying a drink with friends we hadn’t seen in a while in the George, very close to where the atrocious attacks happened. A man, I think the bouncer, came in and shouted at us all to evacuate. There was a moment of silence and stillness as no one knew quite how to react. Our initial reaction was it was a hoax. He then shouted at us to move again and by his reaction, it was clear this was no hoax.

We all started leaving the pub, relatively calmly, and then we were told to go back in and started moving back in only to be told to run and get out quickly because there were people with knives and guns. As we went onto Borough High Street, we heard the sound of gunfire and a police officer telling us to run. We all just ran away as quickly as possible. I remember just grabbing my friend’s hand and sprinting away.

They said they had no idea what was happening or where they were running to and whether it was safe there. They ended up running into a residential area and then getting taxis further south.

I’m still feeling shocked that we were so near and also very lucky. We had nearly decided to go for drinks in Borough Market. My heart goes out to those people who have lost their lives, those who are injured and their families. It could have been us.

Updated

Holly Jones, a BBC reporter, was one of the first people on the scene to call 999.

“The van was zig-zagging along the pavement and it looked like it was aiming for groups of people,” she said. “He hit two people in front of me that were about five metres in front, swerved back round again, and just clipped a girl who was walking towards me. Didn’t touch her, and she had headphones in, and I just saw the shock and look on her face as it veered around her.

“At this point is when I saw the driver of the vehicle, definitely intentional, he didn’t look scared he just looked focused. I’d almost like to say the word demented.

“That’s when he was heading straight towards me.”

Updated

The Cyprus high commissioner, Euripides Evriviades, has ordered flags to be flown at half mast on his embassy’s London building ”in solidarity with the UK”.

The high commissioner, who was among the first to learn that the youngest victim of last month’s Manchester attack was an eight year-old Anglo-Cypriot schoolgirl, said the prime minister’s statement earlier today of “enough is enough is indicative of the direction of travel”.

“What it said is that all of us are in the same strategic boat,” he told the Guardian. “EU countries, irrespective of Brexit, have to cooperate closely to defeat this scourge, this threat against our way of life.”

What was needed was real-time, day-to-day cooperation at the highest levels, he added.

Meanwhile, the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, which represents 300,000 Cypriots in Britain, expressed its “shock, horror and condemnation of the brutal events in London”.

In a letter to Theresa May, the federation also expressed its gratitude to the police and emergency services for the bravery and professionalism they had exhibited.

“We will not allow those who try to divide us and attack our democracy to succeed. Our community stands ready and willing to assist, in any way we can, to defend our common values.”

Updated

The brother of David Haines, the British aid worker who was murdered by Islamic State in Syria in 2014, has made a plea for unity as the strongest possible response to the “barbarism” of the London terror attacks.

Over the past few years Mike Haines has sought to continue his brother’s work by visiting schools and community groups to combat extremist indoctrination of young people in the UK. He told the Press Association:

My deepest sympathies are with the victims and all those affected by last night’s dreadful attack in London.

From my own loss, I know first-hand the hurt and anger that many people are feeling today.

While it is hard at a time like this, I also know that hate can never be the answer – that is what the terrorists want, and it is not what we as a country are about.

As a nation, our strongest response to this barbarism is to hold steady, confident that terrorism will never break us, as long as we continue to stand together.

Updated

My colleague, Caroline Bannock, has spoken to Elizabeth, a 22-year-old Malaysian student studying in London, who was in Wagamama restaurant close to the Tate modern on the South Bank when the attack took place.

She described the chaos out on the streets when she tried to get home.

A waiter said London bridge was closed as there had been an attack. At the time it didn’t feel too close, my friend and I were thinking that the terror had taken place and it wouldn’t be happening again. It was just after 10:00pm and we decided to leave the restaurant. All the doors were locked, which made us a bit scared as we realised that they had been trying to stop people getting in.

When we got outside we had a view of 100 people or so all milling around and trying to call cabs. People were standing on corners crying, the fire brigade were there and we started to realise that it wasn’t over, it was still active, we were really terrified then.

Elizabeth said they started walking towards Blackfriars Bridge but couldn’t get a taxi.

Then people started running behind us, shouting: ‘They’re stabbing, they’re stabbing.’ Everyone started running and screaming. I held my friend’s hand and we ran for our lives, it’s the first time I’ve honestly felt this fear, this close, I was crying while running for minutes. When you see everyone else freaking out it’s a horrifying experience.

I remember there was a guy on a motorbike on the road and he did a U-turn and in that moment you just don’t know who anybody is, you don’t know what will happen.

Finally, she said, two offered them shelter in their flat, which was a few streets away.

We stayed there until we could get a cab, which wasn’t till 5am. On Sunday morning the streets were completely empty. I never expected something like that to happen to me, when it happens and it’s so close, it’s hard to get over.

Updated

What we know so far

The attacks

  • Seven people have been killed in a terrorist attack in London late on Saturday night.
  • Attackers drove a van across London Bridge, deliberately targeting pedestrians, before leaving the vehicle and stabbing passersby in Borough Market.
  • The three suspects – all male – were shot dead by armed police, who arrived on the scene eight minutes after the first emergency call was made.
  • Canisters seen around the body of at least one of the suspects have been “established to be hoaxes”, police said.
  • At least 48 people were taken to five hospitals across the capital to be treated for their injuries. A total of 36 patients remain in hospital, of whom 21 remain in a critical condition.
  • A member of the public was shot in the crossfire as police officers attempted to neutralise the terrorists.
  • An “unprecedented” number of rounds - around 50 - were fired by eight armed officers to stop the attackers.
  • An officer from the British Transport police was among those seriously injured. He was one of the first officers on the scene and suffered wounds to his face, head and leg. He was armed only with a baton.
  • A Canadian national has been confirmed among the dead.
  • At least two French citizens and one Australian citizen are also among the wounded.
  • The names of those killed – and the perpetrators – are not yet known.
  • 12 people have been arrested in Barking, east London. Raids took place at in flats on Kings Road and Barking Road.
  • A crashed van abandoned at the scene on Borough high street appeared to be a B&Q/Hertz hire van. It was hired by one of the attackers recently, officers said.

The reaction

  • The prime minister, Theresa May, chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee this morning. After, May warned that there has been “far too much tolerance of extremism” in the UK and, promised to step up the fight against terrorism after the London Bridge attack, saying “enough is enough”.
  • Campaigning for Thursday’s general election was suspended.
  • World leaders have expressed condolences, with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, expressing her “sadness and dismay”, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, saying France was “more than ever” at the side of the UK.
  • But the US president, Donald Trump, faced criticism after using the London attacks to argue for his travel ban and criticising the London mayor, Sadiq Khan.
  • A concert in Manchester on Sunday evening in support of those killed and injured in the attack on that city less than a fortnight ago, is going ahead.

Updated

My colleague Lisa O’Carroll has pictures of what is believed to be a car owned by one of the suspected attackers.

Just to be clear - the car was not involved in the attack but is believed to be owned by one of the attackers.

Updated

David Lammy, the former Labour minister who is seeking re-election as MP for Tottenham, has accused Theresa May of using her speech this morning for campaigning purposes.

And Barry Sheerman, who is seeking re-election as Labour MP for Huddersfield, has accused May of allowing police cuts that endangered security when she was home secretary.

Updated

Updated

The mother of one of the victims, 23 year-old Daniel O’Neill, who was stabbed in last night’s attack and is being treated in hospital, has told of her son’s experiences.

“He just stepped outside the bar for a second and a man ran up to him and said: ‘This is for my family, this is for Islam’, and stuck a knife straight in him. He’s got a seven-inch scar going from his belly round to his back,” Elizabeth O’Neill told reporters outside King’s College hospital.

“The man ran away, Daniel headed back into the pub, there was shots fired, everybody was told to lie down, and then they were told to go downstairs in the bar. At this stage Daniel’s friend had put a tourniquet on him and was holding pressure there, he was brought downstairs, parts of that he doesn’t remember, and then the police were there and brought him in their car to the hospital.”

O’Neill said her son was able to talk but remained in shock. “”These people say they are doing this in the name of God, which is an absolute joke. They are callous, they are barbaric and they are absolute cowards. We will carry on as normal,” she said.

Updated

As the immediate shock wears off, there are determined efforts in some quarters to express reconciliation and unity.

Representatives of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community are speaking to reporters on the cordon, as is the bishop of Southwark – the attack happened right on the doorstep of Southwark cathedral, which is still sealed off by the police.

Meanwhile signs with the hashtag #turntolove have been taped to bollards, alongside bouquets of flowers.

Farhad Ahmad, an Ahmadiyya imam, said: “I was completely shocked ... at the same time as an imam that’s read the Holy Qur’an, I felt a responsibility to reach out to people to say, this can’t divide us and that this is not representative of Islam.”

He and colleagues came to Southwark because “it’s important that we chat to people because they have questions. We need to answer those questions and reassure people”.

The Rt Rev Christopher Chessun, bishop of Southwark, said he had come to be “among my people” and his “heart goes out” to those whose lives were changed by the attacks.

“The faith leaders operate, each of them, within community networks,” he said.

“It’s very important that all community networks mobilise so that people of goodwill stand together... this must not undermine the things we cherish most.”

He added: “The purpose of our great faiths is justice and peace and human concern for others, especially the vulnerable.”

On Borough High St, Alice Cudmore of the Globe Church, a free church in a nearby office building, handed out Heroes chocolates to policemen and passers-by.

Asked if the name of the chocolates was deliberate, she said: “There were Celebrations but we thought that wasn’t quite right. And the police are heroes.”

She continued: “We thought, let’s look after people, help people feel less scared.”

The reaction has been “quite mixed”, she said.

“I had a long chat with an atheist guy who was quite angry and that’s understandable. Lots of people can’t believe it’s happened.”

Police officers have been on the receiving end of other small acts of kindness: the Guardian saw Sainsbury’s staff bringing them snacks and sandwiches, and Cudmore said Costa sent them coffees. “I’ve offered Muslims chocolate and they said: ‘I’m fasting but I’ll take one for later’,” she added. “It’s so important to chat.”

Updated

Google has put out a statement following the London Bridge attack saying it is committed to working with the government to ensure terrorists “do not have a voice online”. This is from ITV’s Carl Dinnen.

In her speech this morning Theresa May reaffirmed her commitment to getting international agreement on regulating cyberspace to stop the spread of extremism. (See 11.56am.)

But the Open Rights Group, which campaigns for internet freedom, has criticised May for wanting to force internet firms to allow access to the encrypted messages of terrorists. In a statement it said:

It is disappointing that in the aftermath of this attack, the government’s response appears to focus on the regulation of the internet and encryption.

This could be a very risky approach. If successful, Theresa May could push these vile networks into even darker corners of the web, where they will be even harder to observe.

But we should not be distracted: the internet and companies like Facebook are not a cause of this hatred and violence, but tools that can be abused. While governments and companies should take sensible measures to stop abuse, attempts to control the internet is not the simple solution that Theresa May is claiming.

Updated

Some words of support from horror writer Stephen King

Updated

Mathu, an employee in Sam’s Chicken Shop, said one of the “five or six” who were taken from the flat was Romanian or eastern European.

“He was about 22 or 23, he was a nice, quiet guy. He lived there with his brother and his girlfriend. They used to come in and order lunch, always ordered wings and chips.

“We suddenly hear something like a gunshot. A man rushed in and told us to stay in the shop.

“The shop was surrounded by police,” she said.

Mathu said the two men in the flat were definitely Romanian as they were regular customers and used to josh with him as his girlfriend, Janushan, 15, said there were also four black men who lived in the flat, one of whom he said was Somalian and wore “brown Islamic dress”.

Updated

A Romanian chef who reportedly hit an attacker over the head with a crate and sheltered 20 people in his bakery has been hailed a hero.

The baker, who works at the Bread Ahead bakery in the market, told the Associated Press: “We were looking out of the window because we saw that everyone was agitated, everyone was running, people, women ... they were fainting, falling and we went outside to see what was happening.”

He said that he “froze” when he went outside and saw two people stabbing others. However, then he went and hit one of the attackers on the head with a crate. “There was a car with a loudspeaker saying ‘go, go’ and they [ the police] threw a grenade .... and then I ran.” He added that he also let 20 people into his bakery with the shutters down.

Updated

My colleague Denis Campbell has more information on the member of public who suffered gunshot wounds, confirming the man was shot in the head.

The man shot in the head during last night’s events around London Bridge is alive, “absolutely not dying” and expected to make a full recovery, a senior doctor at the Royal London hospital has told the Guardian.

Confirmation of the man’s condition came from Dr Malik Ramadhan, the divisional director for trauma at the hospital in east London, where the patient is being treated.

“We had one gunshot wound. There’s a patient in this hospital who’s been shot in the head; a man. He’s absolutely not dying. Our expectation is that he will make a full recovery,” said Ramadhan.

The unnamed man is one of 12 people taken to the Royal London with serious injuries, the other 11 of whom sustained injuries from both the van careering across London Bridge and the stabbings that followed. Six of those 12 are receiving critical care.

Ramadhan’s statement contradicts reports in other media, at least one of which claimed that the man had died.

Updated

Rowley said the member of public who was shot by police did not suffer injuries that were “critical in nature”.

As the officers confronted the terrorist, a member of the public also suffered gunshot wounds.

Although the injuries are not critical in nature, they are in hospital receiving medical attention and we will of course keep you updated on that.

Updated

Rowley said the attack started at 9.58pm as the attackers drove a van from north to south over London Bridge.

The van mounted the pavement and collided with pedestrians before being abandoned where attackers were armed with knives, continued into the Borough Market area, stabbing numerous people.

The attackers were then confronted by the firearms officers and I can confirm eight police firearms officers discharged their weapons.

While this will be subject to an investigation by the IPCC, our initial assessment is in the region of 50 rounds, 50 bullets, were fired by those eight officers. The three attackers were shot dead.

The situation these officers were confronted with was critical – a matter of life and death – three armed men wearing what appeared to be suicide belts.

They had already attacked and killed members of the public and had to be stopped immediately. Indeed, I’m not surprised with what they must have feared were three suicide bombers the firearms officers fired an unprecedented number of rounds to be completely confident they had neutralised the threat that those men posed.

Updated

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has condemned President Trump for his comment about the London mayor, Sadiq Khan. (See 3.29pm.) Farron said:

Donald Trump has shown how little he cares for the special relationship and how much he will twist the truth to try and justify his divisive policies.

Sadiq Khan has shown calm and dignified resolve in the face of these cowardly terrorist attacks. He is more of a statesman than Donald Trump will ever be.

Rowley said the investigation had made good progress but there “remains much more to do”.

We’re making significant progress in identifying the three attackers and confirming the fact there were no other suspects at the scene when the attack was carried out.

Work is ongoing to understnd more about them, about their connections and whether they were assisted and supported by anyone else.

Searches and 12 arrests have been made in east London, he said.

There is clearly more to do and we will work relentlessly to get to the facts.

We established that the van used in the attack was a white Renault van that was recently hired by one of the attackers.

Updated

A member of the public also suffered a gunshot wound - counter-terror chief

Mark Rowley, Met police assistant commissioner, said a member of the public suffered a gunshot wound as officers attempted to neutralise the terrorists with an “unprecedented” level of gunfire.

The individual is being treated in hospital, Rowley said.

Eight armed officers opened fire as they attempted to stop the knife-wielding attackers and discharged around 50 bullets, he said.

In addition, detectives have confirmed the white Renault van used by the attackers was hired shortly before the attack.

Updated

ITV’s Peston on Sunday has released the transcript of Robert Peston’s interview with Amber Rudd, the home secretary, this morning. (See 10.53am.) Here are the key points.

  • Rudd explained why the joint terrorism analysis centre (JTAC) had decided not to raise the threat level from severe to critical.

The level of severe means an attack is highly likely, and we’ve been at that level for three years. [The level went up to critical after Manchester] because in Manchester we had to be, the police had to be absolutely sure that there was no additional material or explosives out there that could mean there might be a follow up attack. When they became satisfied of that, the independent assessor of the threat level, JTAC, said it was right to come back down to severe. We don’t believe there is additional elements which could be carrying on the attack last night, or JTAC, rather, has made that assessment, so they haven’t recommended going to critical.

  • She said the police were confident the attackers were “radical Islamist terrorists”.
  • She refused to say if the attackers were known to the authorities.
  • She said Theresa May’s reference in her speech (see 11.56am) to “taking military action to destroy Isis in Iraq and Syria” was not intended to mean she wants more military action.
  • She said the government was working with international allies to get internet companies to do more to tackle extremism. There were two priorities, she said.

There is international agreement that we need to get those companies to do more. It’s not good enough just to say, do no harm. We have to get them to actively to work with us to stop their platforms being used to radicalised. It’s two, it’s two points to it. One is to make sure that they do more to take down the material that is radicalising people, and secondly to help work with us to limit the amount of end-to-end encryption that otherwise terrorists can use to plot their devices.

  • She said the government did not want to exploit the attack politically.

We are plain vanilla about making sure there’s no political points scoring as we go about trying to keep people safe. Of course it’s right to have a debate about it, but I hope we can do it without introducing politics.

Updated

Lisa O’Carroll has spoken to a witness to the Barking Road raid

Full statement from Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau

The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, issued the following statement after last night’s terrorist attack, confirming a Canadian was killed:

Canada strongly condemns the senseless attack that took place last night in London, United Kingdom, which killed and injured many innocent people. I am heartbroken that a Canadian is among those killed.

We grieve with the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones, and wish all those injured a speedy and full recovery.

Londoners and people across the United Kingdom have always displayed strength and resilience in the face of adversity. We recently witnessed this after the attacks in Manchester and in the Westminster area of London. This time will be no different.

These hateful acts do not deter us; they only strengthen our resolve. Canadians stand united with the British people. We will continue to work together with the United Kingdom and all our allies to fight terrorism and bring perpetrators to justice.

The government of Canada will not comment further at this time out of respect for the family.

Updated

All signs are that the police cordon will remain in place overnight, which is likely to cause major disruption if still in place on Monday morning.

One police officer said the hope was that the cordon would be lifted by tomorrow morning. Officers have also been advising people allowed into the cordon – because they live within the area taped off or are staying in hotels there – to stock up on food to save them having to cross in and out of the cordon again.

Updated

Canadian killed in London attacks - Justin Trudeau

The Press Association reports a Canadian national was among those killed in the London Bridge terror attack, the country’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has said.

Updated

Rashid Rehman, who runs a fish shop nearby who saw the police raid on the flat above Paddy Power, said: “The swat teams came from the back and the front, there were police with machine guns.”

A series of images have come into the Guardian picture desk of a raid at an address in Barking, showing a number of women being led away in handcuffs.

A woman in handcuffs is lead by police from a residential address in Barking
A woman in handcuffs is lead by police from a residential address in Barking. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
A person is led away by police at an address in Barking
A person is led away by police at an address in Barking. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Police officers escort a woman to a police van after raiding a block of flats in Barking
Police officers escort a woman to a police van after raiding a block of flats in Barking. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters
A woman is lead by police from a residential address in Barking
A woman is lead by police from a residential address in Barking. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Giovanni Sagristani and his friends were in El Pastor restaurant on Stoney Street last night when one of the attackers came in and stabbed a woman in the chest.

“He came in shouting and just stabbed her,” Sagristani told the BBC.

His partner, Carlos Pintos, who works as a critical care nurse, attended to the woman, with the help of his friend, also a nurse.

“They took some ice and cloths and tried to stop the bleeding,” Sagristani said. “She lost half a litre of blood in the beginning. He was keeping pressure on the wound.”

He said fellow diners threw chairs and bottles at the attacker and pushed him out the restaurant. Once he was outside, staff lowered the security gate and locked customers inside.

“After the initial moment of panic everyone tried to help this girl and stay calm. We were all at the back of the restaurant. There were shots going off outside and we didn’t know what was going on.”

It was more than two hours before paramedics were able to attend to the scene. “They kept her conscious, it was very lucky they were there,” he said.

Updated

PM made private visit to victims in hospital - Number 10

Theresa May made a private visit to King’s College London hospital to hear firsthand accounts from patients and staff on Sunday afternoon. No 10 confirmed that the visit had been made but said no media was invited.

Updated

My colleague, Lisa O’Carroll, is on location at a raided property in Barking.

Our colleague Alan Travis points out that Iain Duncan Smith (see 2.02pm) does not seem aware that the Tpim legislation was updated in 2015 to allow terror suspects to be forced to move home.

Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer for England, and Sir Bruce Keogh, national medical director for NHS England, said in a joint statement:

The appalling events in London last night follow all too fast on the heels of the dreadful attacks we have seen on Westminster Bridge and in Manchester over recent weeks. Our thoughts are with everyone affected.

On each occasion we have seen both the worst and the best of humanity. Last night, once again, the NHS and other emergency services reacted swiftly and heroically, going towards the danger to help the injured.

Tried and tested emergency plans were activated, with London ambulance service on the scene within six minutes. NHS staff across the capital have also volunteered to work extra shifts and through the night to help the emergency response.

As the medical director and chief nurse of the NHS in England we would like to put on record our gratitude and thanks to everyone for their tireless efforts and commitment in what has been a very difficult period.

Updated

21 people in critical condition - NHS chiefs

NHS England says that 21 people injured in the London Bridge terror attack are in a critical condition.

The BBC has postponed its Question Time special this evening involving Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish National party leader, and Tim Farron, leader of the Lib Dems, after the London Bridge attacks, the BBC has said.

Filmed in Edinburgh, the programme was to have been aired during prime time at 6.05pm this evening following last week’s Question Time special featuring Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. But the BBC has cancelled or postponed all of its set-piece Sunday political programming given the attack on London Bridge on Saturday night.

Jonathan Munro, head of newsgathering for BBC News, tweeted:

There had been intense talks about rearranging today’s programme with the SNP and Lib Dems but no new date for filming or broadcasting the show has been agreed.

Sturgeon’s timetable is now looking extremely tight since she is also due to appear in a Scottish leaders debate on STV on Tuesday evening in Glasgow. She is also still working as first minister of Scotland, while also acting as figure head for her party’s general election campaign.

The BBC Question Time webpage has added to confusion about its rescheduling. It says the programme is being aired 10.30pm on Sunday on the BBC Parliament channel and was then being re-shown at midnight tonight on the BBC News Channel and 0.30am on Wednesday.

But party sources said this was inaccurate: today’s filming in Edinburgh has been cancelled.

Updated

Here’s a picture gallery pulling together photos from the events in London.

Trump 'ill-informed', says Sadiq Khan's spokesman

Downing Street has issued a fairly bland statement responding to what President Trump has been saying about Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, over his response to the London Bridge attack. (See 12.35pm.) It is supportive of Khan, but does not criticise the president. This is from the Daily Mirror’s Jack Blanchard.

A spokesman for Khan himself said the London mayor would not be responding personally to Trump’s “ill-informed” remark because he had better things to do. The spokesman said:

The mayor is busy working with the police, emergency services and the government to coordinate the response to this horrific and cowardly terrorist attack and provide leadership and reassurance to Londoners and visitors to our city.

He has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks urging Londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police – including armed officers – on the streets.

Here is the Trump tweet again.

It quotes Khan out of context because what Khan actually said was:

My message to Londoners and visitors to our great city is to be calm and vigilant. You will see an increased police presence today, including armed officers and uniformed officers. There is no reason to be alarmed by this.

Trump’s tweet today may have been partially influenced by his memory of how Khan called the travel ban he proposed on people entering the US from seven Muslim-majority countries “shameful and cruel”.

Updated

As with the Westminster Bridge and Manchester Arena attacks, praise is coming in for the NHS staff and organisations who helped the injured last night.

Prof Karim Brohi, the director of the NHS’s London major trauma system, said there had been a “strong, standard [and] effective response across [the] London trauma system” from the capital’s hospitals and ambulance services. The system is now “fully operational today. Thank you all. #antifragile”, tweeted Brohi, who is a trauma and vascular surgeon.

Dr Paul Clyburn, the president of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland – some of whose members were called in to help with emergency operations last night – tweeted: “Sad, atrocious, cowardly London attack. Sympathy to victims & families. Tribute to emergency services & colleagues caring for victims.”

NHS England is due to issue an update soon about the latest situation with the casualties.

Updated

Reports are emerging of a heavy police presence and cordons near East Ham town hall on Barking Road.

Witnesses reported a police van and four to five police cars arriving at the scene. Police tape has cordoned off the area.

Updated

UK to observe minute's silence on Tuesday

The UK will observe a minute’s silence on Tuesday 6 June at 11am in remembrance of those who lost their lives and all others affected by the attacks in London on Saturday night.

The silence will be marked at all government buildings and other organisations may follow suit.

Flags will remain at half-mast on Whitehall government buildings until Tuesday evening.

Suspected attacker ejected from mosque - Barking resident

Salahudee Jayabdeen, 40, said one of the suspected attackers had been forcibly removed from a local mosque called Jabir bin Zayd after questioning the Imam during a service.

He said he had seen the man in the area for the past year.

It was about two months ago and he started questioning what the imam was saying. I can’t remember exactly what it was about but was asked to leave. He didn’t want to and was forcibly taken out.

Updated

The owner of a restaurant in Borough Market has told how he and his staff helped take 130 customers to safety in the midst of last night’s attack.

Mark Stembridge, owner of Cafe Brood, said he saw three men brandishing weapons coming at pace towards his building. He immediately told his staff, some of whom were ex-military, to pull customers from the open balcony and take them inside.

He told HuffpostUK: “I can’t tell you what they were screaming but they seemed to hesitate when they saw we were slightly organised.

“Then they veered off underneath the bridge towards another establishment called Borough Bistro.”

Stembridge has called for more training to be given to restaurant owners in London and said police had passed on advice to him following the Westminster attack in March, and he in turn trained his staff.

“Having had the police down recently when we’ve had a couple of bomb scares, they’ve used some sort of technique of moving and waving their arms, and thats what the boys did, we’ve been told by the police what to do and we secured most of the people within the premises.”

Stembridge and his staff were evacuated to the Andaz hotel in Liverpool Street and were released this morning around 6am.

Updated

Uber has come under fire on social media, with users accusing the company of profiting from last night’s terror attack on London Bridge.

Users accused the company of using “surge prices”, which come into operation automatically when demand is high. Some journeys cost as much as twice the normal fare in the hours following the attack, said users, as many frightened people were attempting to get home.

Simon Moores accused the company of charging £40 for what he said would usually be a £7 journey from Knightsbridge to Victoria.

Uber said fare surges were stopped as soon as it learned about the terror attack.

On Twitter the company said: “We suspended dynamic pricing as soon as we heard about the incident, as we did previously with Westminster and Manchester.”

But some users said there had been a long delay of up to two hours before the surge was suspended.

Responding to a question from the Guardian, an Uber spokesman said “dynamic pricing” – which sees Uber prices increase with a surge in demand – had been suspended at 10.50pm, a few minutes after the company became aware of the incident.

Its general manager Tom Elvidge said the company would also refund all fares from around the affected area following the attack.

In a statement, Elvidge said: “Our hearts go out to everybody affected by yet another horrific attack on our city. We’d like to thank all the drivers who helped tens of thousands of Londoners get home safely last night. As soon as we heard about the incident we immediately suspended dynamic pricing all around the area of the attacks – and shortly afterwards across the whole of central London – just as we did following the attacks in Manchester and Westminster. We are also ensuring all rides from around the affected area were free of charge. Our team is also working with the Metropolitan police to help them get any footage from drivers who were in the area at the time.”

Updated

The mother of an Australian woman who was injured during the attack has said her daughter is recovering well despite being stabbed in the throat by one of the terrorists.

Candice Hedge, 34, from Brisbane, received emergency surgery at St Thomas’s hospital, but “she is going to be fine, thank goodness”, her mother, Kim del Toro, told Fairfax Media in Australia.

She said Hedge had been working at a bar in Borough Market with her boyfriend, named Luke, when “he heard some commotion out the front and went out to see what was going on”, del Toro said.

“He saw some men with knives coming toward them, and he ran back inside to see where Candice was.” She said he had been unable to find her, and the police had yelled for everyone to stay down, before he saw her running towards him, holding her bleeding neck.

The Brisbane Courier Mail reported that Hedge had finished her waitressing shift at Elliot’s restaurant and was having a drink at the bar when a man came up behind her and slashed her throat from behind with a knife.

Del Toro said her daughter had been able to make a Skype call on Sunday morning. “She couldn’t speak, but I got to see her and she gave me the thumbs up, so I knew that she was OK.”

Hedge also posted on Facebook to reassure friends, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. She wrote: “I’m doing OK. Still in hospital, but all in the clear. I really can’t talk. The f----- stabbed me in the neck. Don’t worry too much. I love you all.”

Updated

Dashcam footage from a taxi shows the scene on London Bridge shortly after attack on Saturday night. Casualties can be seen lying on the road and pavement as police rush to attend the scene. Warning: some viewers may find the footage distressing.


Taxi dashcam footage shows police and casualties on London Bridge after attack

Updated

Labour suggests May's speech broke truce on political campaigning

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, said Theresa May’s statement appeared to be a breach of an agreement with Labour to put aside political campaigning and was insensitive to those who are just becoming aware that their loved ones have died.

She told Radio 4’s World This Weekend that she regretted the prime minister’s statement because it was not putting forward proposals that are to be implemented immediately. She said:

None of the things [May] is proposing in the four-point plan are immediate steps and so I regret the timing of this. There is an agreement between the parties that there will not be party political campaigning until this evening or tomorrow.

I think that [what May has said] is drawing us into a debate. I think there is time enough to discuss these issues. I don’t think that anything she is proposing is anything that needs to be or will be dealt with tomorrow, and I don’t think anything is an immediate step that she is putting forward. If it was then, that would be different matter.

But to come out on to the steps of 10 Downing Street immediately in the aftermath of a terrible outrage would not be something that would be expected.

She has said enough is enough. Well I thought enough was enough after 9/11, I thought that enough was enough after 7/7, I didn’t think we should be taking any more of these attacks on our people, we all agree on that.

We need to do more but we also need to be sensitive to the fact that there are people who are only just discovering that their loved ones have died.

Asked if Jeremy Corbyn had also made a political point a few hours earlier when raising police numbers and the money required for intelligence, Thornberry replied:

I think it is a good idea to stick to the agreement that there was not going to be party political campaigning until this evening and the Labour party will begin campaigning this evening.

Updated

A man named Will, who didn’t want to give his surname, described how he was among about 100 people to be shut inside the Sheaf pub in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

“A lot of people came running in and we thought there was a fight going on,” he said. “The bouncer shut the doors and locked us in.” A few others were allowed in to shelter in the pub, he said.

“Those guys looked more shaken up,” he said. “A bloke who sounded Italian said he had just witnessed two men stabbing two women repeatedly. He was on the brink of tears.”

Then a “huge surge of people” came in, he said. “I think they were from Katzenjammers,” the bar next door where terrified punters had been filmed being ordered to get on the floor by armed police.

Will said he believed they came through a shared fire exit or cellar. “They were all running trying to get out of the building,” he said. “That caused panic in the Sheaf.”

By this point he said there were about 100 people in the pub. “The Sheaf isn’t really a big pub so it got pretty crowded,” he said. “The news was just saying it was a truck but we had people in there saying
they had seen a stabbing. It was very confusing.”

After an hour or so the police told them to leave the area as fast as possible. “We came across quite a few bodies,” he said. “I don’t know if they were dead.” He could recall seeing at least five people on the ground with foil blankets being tended to by emergency teams.

“There was a second surge when we got out of the safe zone,” Will said. “I saw a grown man faint and his friends drag him. That really shook me.”

Updated

Barking resident Ken Chigbo told Sky News he spoke to the man believed to be one of the attackers only yesterday and he expressed interest in Chigbo’s hire van.

I’m moving house at the moment. So I had a big van outside. He came up to me and said ‘oh Ken, you’re moving’. He’s usually a very nice friendly guy. But this time it was on a different level of nice. It’s quite strange to put into words. He was asking me where I was moving to etc and then he started asking about the van.

Where did you get your van Ken? How much is it? Is it possible to get it in automatic? All these specific questions about the van, which obviously now makes sense in my head. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it.

Updated

Southwark Cathedral, which is next to Borough Market, is closed. A statement on its website reads:

As a consequence of the terrorist incident yesterday evening on London Bridge and at the Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral remains closed until further notice. This means that no services can take place until the police cordon is lifted.

Ajay, from Bombay, India, is on holiday with his wife and two children aged nine and 14. He said his family had abandoned plans to visit Manchester because of the attack on the Ariana Grande concert but we’re staying at the Premier Inn close to where last night’s attack happened.

They were in Alma’s pizzeria on Borough High Street, on what was supposed to be the last day of their holiday when panic erupted around them.

He said:

We were just sitting having a pizza by the window. We saw a lot of police vehicles, we went out to see what was going on and we heard gunshots. At first we thought it was firecrackers, people celebrating the match (the Champions League final) but then we saw people running and ran into our hotel.

They were supposed to get a flight back to India this morning but we’re unable to retrieve their luggage from their hotel within the police cordon.

We were supposed to go to Manchester then didn’t because of the attack there. I can’t believe it’s happened in London, it makes me feel numb. I’m from India and you’re used to this type of thing but I thought London was the best, safest place for a holiday.

May wants to beef up Tpims to allow terror suspects to be forced to move home, Duncan Smith claims

Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative former work and pensions secretary, told the World this Weekend that Theresa May would probably try to toughen up Tpims (terrorism prevention and investigation measures). These are the the measures introduced by the coalition to place restrictions on people who are suspected of being terrorists but who have not been convicted of an offence. They replaced control orders, introduced by Labour, which were tougher, but which were being challenged in the courts.

Duncan Smith, who served in the coalition cabinet, said that was one of the things to which May was referring when she spoke about toughening anti-terror laws. (See 11.56am.) He was asked if that meant internment and he replied:

Internment always conjures up views of internment of the IRA back in the 1970s. I don’t think that is what is on the table. But I think what is on the table is a much tighter view about the way we got about this Tpim stuff.

One of the things that I was concerned about in coalition – I know Theresa May was when she was home secretary – was during the coalition the Tpim order that we brought in, which gives those powers, was watered down. And I think it was weakened too much.

The general sense is, and I think this is the feeling also within the security services, is that, if you think about it, they are watching at least 500 people, every hour of every day. And then there are thousands more that they need to watch, but it’s just not feasible ... So what they need to be able to do is lesson the burden on themselves by, those who they are most concerned about, putting them in a place where they cannot do anything. That allows them to go wider, to investigate and look further ahead at the others.

And I think this is really what Theresa May is getting to.

There are several differences between Tpims and control orders but a crucial one is that control orders allowed “involuntary relocation”. A suspect living in London could be ordered to go and live somewhere else, where he would be out of touch with his associates. Duncan Smith is implying (when he talks about suspects being “put in a place where they cannot do anything”) that May wants to reintroduce this power

  • Duncan Smith suggests May wants to beef up Tpims to allow suspects to be forced to move home.

This is from a Commons library note (pdf) explaining the differences between control orders and Tpims.

The measures that may be imposed under [Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act] are finite, unlike those under the [Prevention of Terrorism Act], and are less intrusive in certain respects.

Involuntary relocation is no longer permitted. This was one of the most controversial aspects of the control order regime, and relocation requirements were struck down by the courts in several cases. Overnight residence requirements which are permitted for Tpim subjects must be based somewhere in which the subject has a residence or connection.

Curfews of up to 16 hours are replaced by “overnight residence requirements”. The power to confine persons to a particular area is replaced by a power to exclude them from particular specified areas or places.

The power to ban all electronic communications is replaced by a provision that requires the subject to be allowed the use of a fixed line and a mobile telephone, and a computer with internet access.

Police searches for the purpose of determining whether there is compliance with Tpims now require a warrant from the appropriate judicial authority. Measures to prohibit and vet visitors and meetings are relaxed.

Updated

British Transport Police officer in stable condition - force chief

The British Transport Police (BTP) officer injured as he confronted terrorists with nothing but his baton is in a stable condition, the force chief said.

The BTP chief constable, Paul Crowther, said: “Having visited the officer in hospital shortly after he was admitted for treatment, I was able to hear his account of what happened last night.

“It became clear that he showed enormous courage in the face of danger, as did many others who were at the scene and rushed to help. Although he is seriously unwell, he was able to recount how he faced the attackers armed only with his baton, outside London Bridge station.

“For an officer who only joined us less than two years ago, the bravery he showed was outstanding and makes me extremely proud.

“All of us at BTP wish him a swift recovery, and I know he will be touched by the hundreds of messages of support from across the UK and the world. Our thoughts are with all of those who died or were injured, and their loved ones as they try to come to terms with what happened.”

Members of the public should expect to see extra police officers patrolling stations in London and the south-east.

Updated

Richard Angell was in the Arabica bar and kitchen in Borough Market when the attack took place last night. This morning he returned to the restaurant, where he was having dinner with friends, to pay his bill and tip the staff.

In an interview with the BBC, a defiant Angell said: “If me having a gin and tonic with my friends, flirting with handsome men, hanging out with brilliant women, is what offends these people so much, I’m going to do it more not less, because that’s what makes London so great, that’s what makes it the best city in the world, and we’re going to go out and enjoy it more.”

Angell said he was more determined than ever “to love a city that looks after me”.

He said the emergency services were “phenomenal”. “They were there within seconds, they kept us safe, they swept the place. Two things really stuck with me. One, when we were leaving, the police were our eyes and ears, as we’re trying to avoid blood or people’s shoes that have fallen off or dropped wallets or whatever, they were our eyes and ears.

“Secondly I noticed the paramedic who was looking after a woman who was sadly face down on the ground, there was a couple of them, I thought they run at danger, then they turn their back to danger, to put together the life in front of them while we’re running for our lives behind them.”

He added: “I might never meet the people who made the judgments that potentially saved my life last night, but I’m thankful to those people. I hope London hugs them in lots of ways.”

Updated

A taxi driver has told how his passenger saved lives by using her body to barricade a restaurant door in order to stop an attacker from coming in.

Aksha Patel said the woman, who was travelling with one other person in his cab, had acted as a barrier for “a few seconds”, allowing people to escape from the back entrance of the Black and Blue restaurant.

He told Sky News: “She knew they were bad people trying to break in.“ She managed to hold the door for a few seconds but they overpowered her. “People managed to escape through the rear door possibly saving a good 20 people’s lives.”

It is just one of a number of extraordinary stories emerging about ordinary people’s acts of heroism, without which the death toll from last night could have been higher.

Updated

Injured off-duty Met officer tackled terrorist - sources

The off-duty Met police officer injured during the attacks tackled one of the terrorists, sources have said. Another two people were injured during the confrontation.

Scotland Yard has confirmed that the off-duty officer, as well as a British Transport Police (BTP) officer, were injured in the attack.

Updated

12 people have been arrested in Barking, Met says

Officers from the Met’s counter terrorism command have arrested 12 people in Barking in connection with last night’s attacks. In a statement, the Met said:

At 22.08hrs on Saturday, 3 June, we received reports that a white van had struck pedestrians on London Bridge. The van then drove to Borough Market where the three men left the vehicle and stabbed a number of people. The suspects were wearing what we now know to be hoax suicide vests.

Armed officers confronted the three suspects who were shot and killed in Borough Market. Seven people have died, in addition to the three attackers shot dead by police. A further 48 people were taken to hospital, some of whom are believed to be suffering serious and life-threatening injuries.

The MPS is in the process of informing next of kin and specialist officers have been deployed to provide support to families.

The Met added that among those injured in the attack are a British Transport Police officer and an off-duty Metropolitan police officer. Both remain in hospital with serious injuries but neither is believed to be in a life-threatening condition.

Police officers escort a woman to a police van after raiding a block of flats in Barking.
Police officers escort a woman to a police van after raiding a block of flats in Barking. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters

Updated

Furqan Navi, who lived in the block raided by police in Barking this morning, said he recognised his neighbour as one of the attackers lying dead in Borough Market after he had been shot by armed police.

“He lived there with his wife and two children, he’d been there for about three years. He seemed pretty friendly but I didn’t know him,” Navi said.

Another neighbour said he had seen the man two days ago. “He seemed a friendly, cool sort of guy. He was friendly and liked playing with kids. He was in his 20s I guess.”

Updated

Here is the full statement from Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, on the London Bridge attack:

Updated

This is how Theresa May (or whoever writes her tweets) has chosen to summarise the speech she gave earlier:

Updated

President Trump is still tweeting about the London attack. Bizarrely, he seems to think what happened supports the case against gun control.

Here is some reaction to Theresa May’s speech (see 11.56am) from commentators and political figures.

From Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader:

From Matt Zarb-Cousin, who until recently was Jeremy Corbyn’s press officer:

From Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former press secetary:

From Alex Nunns, the writer and author of a book about Corbyn:

From the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire:

From the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush:

Updated

Lewis Bennett, 39, was a witness to the attack that took place in the Globe pub in London Bridge.

His description of events has been contradicted by other witnesses. Bennett described how the attacker, who was between 25 and 30, and clean-shaven, was dressed in a black robe and had a curved knife in his belt, which was about 1ft long.

“Everyone gasped when he ran into the pub but he didn’t do anything at first, just stood still for about 10 seconds,” said Bennett. “But then he grabbed the knife and stabbed people closest to him. He stabbed people in the stomach and legs, I think about five or six people. People started screaming and running out the back door. He was shouting ‘Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar’ and he had a British accent.

“I went to go stand in the loo and I could hear all the screaming. I came back out and he was standing there right in the centre of the pub and all the blood was dripping from his blade.”

Bennett said two policemen then came in through the back door. The attacker lunged at one of the policemen but the other knelt on the floor and fired two shots at the attacker, taking him out instantly.

“He died there on the pub floor,” said Bennett. ”The police came in and covered the body and the paramedics came in to help the people who hadn’t escaped through the back door. I think a few died but most people were still alive I think. It looked like there were about five people who were attacked. It was such a frightening ordeal, it was so frightening.”

Bennett told the Guardian he had had a drink at the time of the attack and could not remember every detail.

Updated

Barking residents report arrest at raided flat

Barking residents have been speaking to my colleagues, Robert Booth and Matthew Taylor, about a raid on a property believed to be linked to one of the London attackers and where as many as five arrests are thought to have been made.

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, described the man who lived in a flat at the centre of the raid as a slim, bearded man in his mid-20s, married with a young child, no older than two. He is believed to be of Pakistani origin.

She told the Guardian she had recognised her neighbour as the man from a picture that circulated last night of one of the attackers lying on the ground in Borough Market after he had been shot by armed police.

Her suspicion appeared to be confirmed when she woke on Sunday morning to see police officers photographing his red Peugeot car.

“I realised it was him,” she said. “It is shocking. Everybody here has children and jobs. We never thought anyone here would have the type of mentality to do something like that. I used to see them every night, He had a wife and child and would drop them off home and would look for a parking spot.

“He never used to communicate with the women here. I just knew him as the guy that always came at a certain time and would drop his wife and kid off right close to the main door and then go.

“He never used to park where he should park. He never really looked at us and if he did he didn’t look happy as if he had a why are women out on the street at this time of the night type of look on his face.” She said he wore traditional Islamic robes and his wife wore a full-face veil.

“He used to have the beard, the long dress that men wear, sometimes white, sometimes dark-coloured,” she said.

Michael Mimbo, 25, had been getting ready for his shift as a security guard. “I heard cars screeching up the road and lots of shouting of ’get down get down’. I went outside to see what was going on and there were armed police everywhere.

“There were three people lying on the floor with guns pointed at them and I saw another one being Tasered as he tried to get away – it was chaos.” Mimbo said he had seen the man before but did not know him. He said that in all he saw five people – four men and one woman being detained.

Another neighbour, Furqan Navi, 35, said he believed the raid had centred on a ground-floor flat in the Elizabeth Fry block of flats in Barking where a family had lived for at least three years.

“There was lots and lots of shouting so I looked out of the window and there were armed police everywhere – it was most alarming.”

Officers and vehicles stand outside a block of flats that was raided by police in Barking, east London.
Officers and vehicles stand outside a block of flats that was raided by police in Barking, east London. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters

Updated

Boris Johnson says 'wells of tolerance are running empty'

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has posted a statement about the London Bridge attacks on Facebook. Here’s an extract.

Today we collectively resolve to beat the terrorists and their nihilistic creed. To those who sympathise or encourage or harbour or aid or abet these killers – in any way – we say enough is enough.

Your time is up. The wells of tolerance are running empty. We will not let you disrupt our lives or our democracy.

In the week of this general election millions of people need to hear the arguments on either side. They cannot have that fundamental right taken away by terrorists. Millions of Londoners will today get on with their lives. They will go to the pub and to the museums and to the parks and to the shows.

The response of the British people will be to carry on with business and usual – as far as they possibly can – in a spirit of total defiance. And that is the best response of all.

Updated

The US president, Donald Trump, has criticised the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, in his latest tweet:

Metropolitan police officers among injured - federation chief

The chair of the Metropolitan branch of the Police Federation has confirmed Metropolitan police officers are among the injured.

Ken Marsh said:

I can confirm that sadly some of our colleagues were among the injured in the attack last night. I join all UK police colleagues in wishing them a swift recovery. We are offering them our full support.

He added:

First and foremost our thoughts are with the families of those who lost loved ones in the horrific events last night and we wish well to those still injured. There can be no doubt that the swift response of our colleagues – both armed and unarmed – saved further lives from being lost.

There are barely words to describe their bravery – officers who ran towards danger with no thought for their own safety. Londoners can rightly be proud of their emergency services today. They are the best of the best and we thank everyone for their praise and kind comments.

It has been reported that a British Transport Police officer was also among the injured.

Updated

Theresa May has spoken to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, about the London Bridge attack, Patrick Wintour reports.

Updated

A journalist reported missing in the wake of the London terror attack has been found, a friend said. Geoff Ho, a business editor with the Sunday Express, is in intensive care after allegedly being stabbed.

Friends had tweeted that Ho was put in an ambulance after being injured near the Southwark Tavern. The friend, Isabelle Oderberg, tweeted: “We have found Geoff. He is in intensive care.

“Thank you for the RTs and messages. I’ll be going offline now until I hear more.”

Nora Calder also tweeted: “Geoff Ho, stabbed at Southwark Tavern, taken in Ambulance.”

The Sunday Express editor, Martin Townsend, said: “Geoff Ho is an absolutely first-class reporter and a fine and decent man and our thoughts are with him and his family at this time. We are all hoping and praying for a speedy recovery.”

Updated

The security services and police fear the London Bridge and Borough Market attack may inspire further copycat attacks.

The concern is that the Westminster attack in March, the Manchester bombing last month and London Bridge last night will have a galvanising effect on others who had been half-contemplating attacks.

The security services will be watching to see what impact the attacks have on the estimated 3,000 Britons, mainly Islamists, that they monitor and who are regarded as being capable of domestic terrorism.

The worry about copycat attacks explains why Theresa May, in her statement outside Downing Street, spoke about “terrorism breeds terrorism”.

Since the 2005 London bombing in which 52 were killed, the security services have had a relatively good record. But the tempo has suddenly increased, with three major attacks in just over two months, and several plots disrupted in the same period, one of which has still to be made public.

One of the questions the security services will be looking at is whether those involved in the London Bridge and Borough Market attack were inspired by the Westminster and Manchester attacks.

Updated

Evidence gained from a recent counter-terrorism operation recorded alleged plotters being inspired by the Westminster attack in March to attempt their own atrocity.

In her speech on Sunday morning, the prime minister said terrorists were being inspired by copying previous recent attacks against the UK, as officials and ministers searched for answers as to why Britain is facing such an upsurge in jihadi activity in the last 10 weeks.

Counter-terrorism investigators believe the upsurge in jihadi attack plots is also possibly linked to the holy month of Ramadan, which began in late May and continues until late June.

In 2016, Ramadan saw an upsurge in attacks around the world. This year it has involved an increase in attempts to attack the UK, one source said. Five plots believed to be at an advanced stage were disrupted since the Westminster attack, four in London and one in Birmingham.

MI5 currently has 3,000 suspects it is investigating for activity ranging from attack plots to support activities and funding, across 500 investigations. It also has a pool of 20,000 former suspects, among whom for instance was the Manchester arena attacker, Salman Abedi.

Updated

Police Scotland has warned it will crack down on any incidents of hate crime after last night’s terror attack in London, and said it will “dynamically review” all its security and safety planning, including the deployment of extra armed officers.

There was an increase in reported hate crimes in Scotland, chiefly graffiti attacks on mosques and verbal attacks, after the Manchester Arena bomb.

Assistant chief constable Steve Johnson said:

While we understand that the public will clearly be appalled by these events, I would urge each and every member of our communities to remain united against extremism and hate.

Police Scotland will not tolerate any attempts to target any community by any misguided individual or group and will work with all of our partners to resolve any issues and address any concerns. Should anyone become a victim of, or witness to, any hate crime, they should contact the police and report the incident.

Johnson added there was no specific intelligence or threat of attack in Scotland, which has an autonomous domestic policing and justice system except for UK-wide intelligence, security and border policing services. The same UK-wide threat level of severe applies too.

Police Scotland continues to dynamically review all safety and security plans and operations. An element of this includes ensuring our armed policing and specialist resources are appropriately deployed.

Updated

The Australian actor who featured in Orange is the New Black, Ruby Rose, was reportedly caught up in the London terror attacks. On Saturday, Rose said on Twitter she was in “lockdown”:

Rose was with with girlfriend Jessica Origliasso, who is one half of
the Australian band The Veronicas. Origliasso also tweeted about her
experiences.

Updated

The Spanish foreign ministry has released a statement condemning the atrocity in London and stressing it solidarity with the UK.

“Spain shares the pain of the families of those who have died in these cowardly attacks and wishes all those injured a swift recovery,” it said. “The government offers the British people and authorities its total solidarity and support in the fight against terrorism.”

It added: ‘The Spanish embassy in the UK and the consulate in London have been following the situation since the start to help Spanish citizens and remain in constant contact with the British authorities.”

Updated

Another witness to the London Bridge attack has been praised for attempting to fend off the terrorists by running after them and throwing chairs, bottles and pint glasses in a bid to stop them.

Gerard Vowles, 47, said he had been watching the Champions League final at the Ship pub in Borough and then decided to go home to get something to eat. He was at the start of the south side of London Bridge when saw a woman being stabbed 10 or 15 times by three men in their 30s.

“She was going, ‘Help me, help me’ and I couldn’t do nothing,” he said. “I want to know if this girl is still alive. I’ve been walking around for an hour and a half crying my eyes out. I don’t know what to do.”
Vowles said he followed the attackers to Borough Market and started throwing items at them to try and stop the atrocity. “I know it was a silly thing to do but I was trying to save people’s lives,” he said.

Vowles said he hit one of the perpetrators on the back with a chair, at which point they chased him to try to stab him. “I knew if I slipped over I’d be a dead man, I’d be killed there and then.”

He said it took at least 10 minutes for armed police to reach the scene. “They literally just started kicking them, punching them, they took out knives. It was a rampage really.”

He said he knew the canisters attached to one of the men wasn’t a bomb because he he chased them and thrown bottles at them for five minutes. “If it was a bomb they would have blown themselves up.”

Updated

Police vans are arriving at the address in Barking raided earlier this morning.

My colleague, Alan Travis, has analysed Theresa May’s four-point plan for tackling extremism in the wake of this latest attack.

Theresa May’s “time to say enough is enough” call to tackle the ideology of Islamist extremism in Britain head-on in the immediate aftermath of the London Bridge attack marks a much tougher response.

Outside 10 Downing Street, 12 hours after the London Bridge attacks, she declared that “there is far too much tolerance of extremism in our country” and said we must “deny any safe spaces for the extremists” and assert “the superiority” of British values.

The prime minister made no mention of Islamist extremism in her Downing Street statement in the immediate aftermath of the Manchester attack, not even to stress, as prime minsters before had done, that radical Islamist ideology is a perversion of the faith of Islam.

This time May has taken a much tougher response both in her language and in the expected policy response, even if the Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, has yet to publicly comment on the identity of the three attackers.

Updated

Theresa May's statement - Summary and analysis

After the 7/7 terror attacks in 2005, Tony Blair announced a 12-point plan for tackling terrorism. It attempted to show the government was serious about toughening anti-terror laws, but Blair was later accused of over-reaction when it became clear that some of his proposals were impossible, or impractical, to implement.

Until now Theresa May has adopted a different approach. After the Westminster and Manchester Arena attacks there were no calls for new anti-terror laws. In fact, after Manchester, Amber Rudd, the home secretary, specifically said that the police and the intelligence services were not asking for news powers.

Now May has changed tack. “Things cannot continue as they are,” she said in a speech that proposed a new legislative blitz against terror.

Here are the key points.

  • May said terror laws needed to be overhauled because Britain faced new types of terror attack.

In terms of their planning and execution, the recent attacks are not connected but we believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face.

As terrorism breeds terrorism and perpetrators are inspired to attack, not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots after years of planning and training, and not even as lone attackers radicalised online, but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack.

We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are. Things need to change and they need to change in four important ways.

  • May said the government needed to redouble efforts to stop people being being radicalised.

First, while the recent attacks are not connected by common networks, they are connected in one important sense. They are bound together by the single evil ideology of Islamist extremism that preaches hatred, sows division and promotes sectarianism.

It is an ideology that claims our western values of freedom, democracy and human rights are incompatible with the religion of Islam. It is an ideology that is a perversion of Islam and a perversion of the truth.

Defeating this ideology is one of the great challenges of our time, but it cannot be defeated by military intervention alone. It will not be defeated by the maintenance of a permanent defensive counter-terrorism operation, however skillful its leaders and practitioners.

It will only be defeated when we turn people’s minds away from this violence and make them understand that our values – pluralistic British values – are superior to anything offered by the preachers and supporters of hate.

May may have been referring to government plans to reboot the Prevent programme later this year.

  • She said she was committed to working with other governments to get internet companies to do more to tackle extremism online. She said:

Second, we cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed. Yet that is precisely what the internet, and the big companies that provide internet-based services provide. We need to work with allied democratic governments to reach international agreements that regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist and terrorism planning.

And we need to do everything we can at home to reduce the risks of extremism online.

This is a reference to an initiative that May was pushing at the G7 summit last month. At the G7 summit, May was focusing on getting internet companies to remove extremism content. In her interview with Peston on Sunday just now, Amber Rudd, the home secretary, signalled that the government would revive its attempt to get internet firms to allow the security services access to encrypted messages. (See 10.57am.) Rudd floated this idea after the Westminster attack, although campaigners and internet companies say her demands are unrealistic and disproportionate.

  • May said there was “far too much tolerance of extremism in our country” and that she wanted to stamp it out.

Third, while we need to deprive the extremists of their safe spaces online, we must not forget about the safe spaces that continue to exist in the real world. Yes, that means taking military action to destroy Isis in Iraq and Syria. But it also means taking action here at home.

While we have made significant progress in recent years, there is – to be frank – far too much tolerance of extremism in our country. So we need to become far more robust in identifying it and stamping it out across the public sector and across society.

That will require some difficult, and often embarrassing, conversations. But the whole of our country needs to come together to take on this extremism, and we need to live our lives not in a series of separated, segregated communities, but as one truly United Kingdom.

This suggests that May is determined to revive plans for a counter-extremism bill. After the 2015 general election, David Cameron’s government proposed a counter-extremism bill in two successive Queen’s speeches but the law never materialised, reportedly because government lawyers could not come up with a definition of “non-violent extremism”, which the bill was supposed to target.

The Conservative manifesto includes plans to address extremism. It says:

To defeat extremism, we need to learn from how civil society and the state took on racism in the twentieth century. We will consider what new criminal offences might need to be created, and what new aggravated offences might need to be established, to defeat the extremists. We will support the public sector and civil society in identifying extremists, countering their messages and promoting pluralistic, British values. And we will establish a Commission for Countering Extremism to identify examples of extremism and expose them, to support the public sector and civil society, and help the government to identify policies to defeat extremism and promote pluralistic values.

But the Tories have not said what these new criminal offences might be, or what “exposing” extremism might mean. May’s language this morning is much blunter and more aggressive.

  • She proposed a review of counter-terror laws and floated the prospect of toughening sentences, including for “apparently less serious” terror offences. She said:

Fourth, we have a robust counter-terrorism strategy, that has proved successful over many years. But as the nature of the threat we face becomes more complex, more fragmented, more hidden, especially online, the strategy needs to keep up.

So in light of what we are learning about the changing threat, we need to review Britain’s counter-terrorism strategy to make sure the police and security services have all the powers they need.

And if we need to increase the length of custodial sentences for terrorist-related offences – even apparently less serious offences - that is what we will do.

This goes beyond what the Conservatives proposed in their manifesto.

  • She said that since the Westminster attack in March “the security and intelligence agencies and police have disrupted five credible plots”.
Theresa May speaking outside 10 Downing Street.
Theresa May speaking outside 10 Downing Street. Photograph: Kevin Coombs/Reuters

Updated

A woman from Brisbane is among two Australians injured in the attack, according to the Brisbane Courier Mail. Candice Hedge, 31, was dining in London on Saturday night with her boyfriend when she was stabbed in the neck. She had finished working as waitress at Elliot’s restaurant in London Bridge about 10.30pm and was sitting at the bar having a drink when a man came up behind her and slashed her throat with a knife.

It’s understood she had her back to the man and he came up behind her, grabbed her head and slashed her throat. She was briefly in a coma but is now awake and speaking with friends.

Updated

My colleague, Peter Walker, has filed this take on the response to the attack by the prime minister, Theresa May.

Theresa May has warned there has been “far too much tolerance of extremism” in the UK and promised to step up the fight against Islamist terrorism in the wake of the London Bridge attack, saying “enough is enough”.

The prime minister struck a sombre and serious tone as she spoke outside No 10 on Sunday morning after chairing a meeting of the Cobra committee following the attack in the centre of the capital that left seven dead.

She said internet companies must not allow extremism a place to exist, but that there was also a need to tackle “safe spaces in real world”, which would require “difficult” conversations.

May also suggested the idea of increased prison terms for terrorism offences, even relatively minor ones.

Updated

Felipe Vaiano, a waiter at Roast restaurant in the former floral hall at Borough Market. He told the Guardian:

As we were cleaning stuff two people came into the restaurant crying and panicking, at first we didn’t know what was going on or what to do. Then they tried to talk but they were in such complete panic, they couldn’t really get words out. All they said was there were stabbings downstairs. So we quickly shut all the doors and stayed inside for about an hour.

We finally left when the police came up to the restaurant and said “you need to leave, follow us.” We ran out into the street and it was full of paramedics everywhere. We were then taken to safety through an escape route in the London underground. I think we were taken to Southwark. We ran and I had nothing with me. When we got out I was near the nightclub Pulse and it was there that I was given an Oyster card by the security guard to get me home.

When we were trapped in the restaurant, the chef in charge was amazing, he was a voice of calm. He is responsible for the restaurant and panic is contagious so he did a great job of keeping everything under control. He told us to turn everything off, the stoves and ovens etc, which is important as it could be a fire hazard. I finished cleaning up and closing down as we normally do. I was cleaning my section, storing food, putting labels – I carried on as normal. Obviously it wasn’t a normal situation but I just tried to focus on my job. The customers were in the saloon trying to find out as much news as possible. There was an atmosphere of calm. I was scared when had to run but now sad because of all the people who had been injured and got killed. I am lucky to be alive.

Updated

Intelligence agencies and police against raising threat level

The intelligence agencies and police recommended at this morning’s Cobra meeting against raising the threat level from severe to critical, which suggests they believe that there is no one else at large, Guardian security correspondent Ewen MacAskill reports.

After the Manchester bomb attack, the threat level was raised to critical, which suggests another attack is imminent because the police and security agencies could not be sure at the time that the bomber Salman Abedi had acted alone. But soon after the threat level was dropped back to severe.

The working assumption is that the London Bridge attack was only the three killed by police were involved.

The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, based at MI5 headquarters in London, is made up of representatives of three intelligence agencies – MI5, which deals with domestic intelligence, MI6, which deals with overseas intelligence, and the surveillance agency GCHQ – as well as the police counter-terrorism team and various Whitehall departments.

There are five threat levels; low, moderate, substantial, severe – meaning an an attack is highly likely – and critical, which means an attack is expected imminently. The threat level was raised to severe in August 2014 in reaction to concerns over Iraq and Syria

Updated

London’s fire chief said firefighters rushed to shut down gas supplies at premises near the attacks. The London fire commissioner, Dany Cotton, who was at London Fire Brigade headquarters shortly after the incident, said:

Our thoughts today are with all of those affected by this horrific terrorist attack in Southwark. Once again I am proud of all of the London Fire Brigade staff involved in the emergency service response.

London Fire Brigade officers were deployed to assist police and other emergency service colleagues at London Bridge and Borough Market. Specially trained officers were on site to treat casualties and carried out specific tasks, including shutting down the gas supply in a number of premises to ensure the area was safe.

We train alongside our emergency service partners to be ready for this kind of emergency and will continue to remain alert and prepared to respond.

At the height of the incident, and in addition to the specially trained officers attending, six fire engines, a command unit and 30 firefighters were positioned at the scene to assist.

Updated

My colleague Haroon Siddique reports that police officers have stationed themselves outside St Thomas’ hospital.

Witness reports of the bravery of Londoners continue to be shared across media.

As the attacks unfolded, ordinary people out to enjoy Saturday night or those who were working in the area tried to help victims and fend off the perpetrators. One of them was a taxi driver, who told LBC:

I saw the people running away, saw the van went through one of the traffic lights system. If you know London Bridge itself there’s an area called Nancy steps, famous for Oliver, he’d knocked over loads of people down there. Three guys jumped out, of the same description as the guy that took out the Manchester people, similar in looks to him, and they took out these long blades, I’d say about 12 inches-plus long, and just went randomly running along Borough High Street stabbing people. A young girl got stabbed in the chest, laying there, it’s so sad.

As soon as I saw this, I thought, ‘I’m gonna try and hit him, I’m gonna try and knock him down’. I spun the cab round, I was about to ram one of them, but he sidestepped me.

These three police officers came running towards him with their batons drawn, they didn’t know what was happening, they just came running towards the incident. Bravery, I wish them all the best, all they had was a baton.

The black cab driver, who identified himself only as Chris, described the scene in further detail.

It was sickening. I didn’t know what to do. There was two young girls, I picked them up, and just took them away from there, dropped them off as far away as possible.

Updated

The Home Office has set up a webpage here with information about the support available for people affected by the attacks.

The page contains advice on where to seek urgent assistance and information, including the official helplines for the incident. It also provides guidance on support services available for victims, witnesses, family members and all those affected by the attacks.

Updated

Jo Wace, 64, a teacher from Dartford, and her friend were walking towards London Bridge station as the attack happened.

We’d been at the Globe theatre watching a performance of Romeo and Juliet and had been chatting about it afterwards so we were late to leave the theatre. At about 10.20pm, we were walking along the pedestrianised part of the South Bank, we’d just passed the Anchor Bankside pub when we saw a large group of people rushing towards us. We assumed that they had to be running towards something not away from it but then one person told us they thought there had been an incident and then we heard the sirens.

The crowd were very calm, very orderly, but then we came across two young French men in their 20s. One of them was very upset and though his friend was trying to calm him down, he couldn’t. I have dual French citizenship and can speak French so I approached him. He was saying: “Look at my hands, I can’t stop them shaking.” He told us he was right there when the van ploughed into people right in front of him. He and his friend turned and ran but they lost another French friend, who was with them, in the confusion. As I was talking to him, we heard a big bang and we realised we should move away.

We tried to leave the area together but there were so many people milling around that we lost them. My friend and I spent a long time trying to find an open station; eventually we crossed the Millennium Bridge. There were people taking selfies on the bridge who hadn’t realised what had happened. Just after midnight we caught a train from Liverpool Street to Romford where a friend picked us up and took us back to Dartford. We felt very calm at the time.It doesn’t hit you till afterwards.

Updated

Reports suggest Southwark Bridge is reopening.

Updated

Irene Smith, who lives near London Bridge, said she heard gunshots several hours after the area had been cleared.

“At about 1.15am I could hear two gunshots in the distance,” she said. About 45 minutes later she heard “another pop – it felt like gunshots”, she said.

Smith had found her way home after fleeing the area earlier in the evening. She had been on a date in the Slug and Lettuce on Borough High Street when it became clear something was going on outside. “We were just talking and then suddenly I heard people gather around the window facing Borough High Street,” she said.

“People were like, ‘What’s going on?’ Somebody said, ‘Run! Run!’ We thought there was a fight outside so we didn’t bother, but then the staff were shouting, ‘Leave, run now.’” Police were standing in the middle of the street, she said.

“I’m really surprised how quickly police managed to get here – there was car after car,” she said.

Smith remembers a policewoman shouting, “Run as fast as you can. Run for your life.”

“So we didn’t know what we were running from. It was quite unsettling. You half expected gunshots from the back.”

She continued: “The most shocking moment was a woman aged 40-45 in a pink top crying. I hugged her and said are you all right. She said, ‘I’ve seen someone being stabbed.’”

As Smith and her date headed south towards Borough station, police along the way urged the crowd to hurry. “The police kept saying all the way down ... ‘Run, keep running, keep moving. Get somewhere safe. Clear the area.’

“People were crying, people had lost their friends and couldn’t get in touch with them.”

They were told to get on to the tube as soon as possible if they needed to travel. “We still didn’t know what was happening. We went straight to the tube – staff were really good, very protective.”

A train approached but didn’t stop, and staff said the station would probably close soon. Buses had also stopped, she said. “So we were kind of stuck in the area ... we wanted to hide somewhere in a small corner or a pub but we thought anyone could storm in and start shooting.”

Despite the chaos, Smith remembers feeling oddly calm. “I was laughing – that was my defensive reaction,” she said. It was only later that the situation sank in. Smith lives in Guinness Court, near Borough Market, and although police told her she wouldn’t be able to get home, she made her way home through the backstreets at about 1am.

“It was pretty empty – a post-apocalypse feeling,” she said. “It’s very unusual to see London Bridge so empty on a Saturday night.”

Updated

Reports suggest a number of people have been taken away by police from the block of flats in Barking.

Aerial footage shows an ambulance parked outside the high-rise building, a number of police officers and a tape cordon.

Rudd says the government wants to do more to stop the way young men are being “groomed” into radicalisation. She says the messages of hate have changed. The terrorists are no longer encouraging Britons to join the Caliphate. Instead they are trying to “weaponise” people in this country.

Q: We cannot tackle this on our own?

Rudd says we can do so much more. The PM has announced an international forum to get internet companies to address radicalisation online. We want them to focus on two things, she says: taking down material that radicalises people online; and stopping people exploiting end-to-end encryption.

Q: Is it right to politicise this?

Rudd says there will be no politicisation of the effort to keep people safe.

Updated

Rudd says threat level is not being raised from severe to critical

Amber Rudd, the home secretary, is on ITV’s Peston on Sunday now. She says the joint terrorism analysis centre (JTAC) has not recommended raising the threat level.

It was raised after the Manchester Arena attack because there was a fear that the bomber could have been working with others who might be planning further attacks. But JTAC does not see the need to raise it now. The threat level is still at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. After Manchester it briefly went up to critical, meaning an attack was seen as imminent.

  • Rudd says threat level is not being raised from severe to critical.

Updated

Police operation under way in Barking - reports

Sky News is showing live footage of a police operation under way at a block of flats in Barking. The Guardian is yet to verify whether it is connected to the attacks in London Bridge and Borough Market but the Sky News correspondent says it is.

The footage from Sky of the operation in Barking
The footage from Sky of the operation in Barking Photograph: Sky News

Updated

May says national campaigning would resume in full on Monday. The election will go ahead as planned on Thursday.

We will come together and, united, we will take on our enemies, she says. And that’s it. We’ll post a full summary shortly.

Theresa May addresses the media as she makes a statement, following a COBRA meeting in response to last night’s London terror attack, at 10 Downing Street.
Theresa May addresses the media as she makes a statement, following a COBRA meeting in response to last night’s London terror attack, at 10 Downing Street. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Updated

May proposes to review counter-terrorism laws, and suggests longer sentences for some offences

May says this is the third terror attack Britain has experienced in three months, after the Westminster and the Manchester Arena attacks.

  • The police have disrupted five credible attacks since the Westminster attack, May says.

The prime minister says we are seeing a new style of attack. People are copying each other.

Things need to change in four important ways, she says:

First, the attackers are bound together by Islamist extremism. It is an ideology that claims our values are incompatible with Islam. Defeating this is one of the great challenges of our time.

It will not be defeated by the maintenance of a counter-terrorism operation. It will only be turned around by persuading people are values are better.

Second, we cannot give the terrorists safe space. But that is what the internet provides.

  • May proposes to redouble international efforts to control extremism on the internet.

Third, there must be action at home.

  • May says there is “far too much tolerance of extremism in our country”.

This will require some embarrassing and difficult conversations, she says.

Fourth, we need to review the counter-terrorism strategy, to ensure the police have the powers they need.

  • May proposes to review counter-terrorism laws, and suggests longer sentences for some offences.

Updated

May says the UK fell victim again to a brutal terrorist attack.

Just before 10.10pm last night the police received reports a van had hit pedestrians on London Bridge. It then went to Borough Market, where three men got out and attacked people with knives. They all appeared to be wearing explosive vests.

Police arrived within moments and shot and killed the terrorists. The police shot them within eight minutes of the first call being received. Seven people were killed and 48 people are in hospital, many with serious injuries.

Theresa May speaking outside Downing Street
Theresa May speaking outside Downing Street Photograph: Sky News

Updated

Theresa May's statement

Theresa May is making her statement outside Number 10 now.

Earlier, she chaired a meeting of Cobra, the government’s emergency committee.

Updated

Arvin Vaziri, 27, a student from Sweden was in A&E at University College Hospital on Saturday night when he heard about the terrorist attack.

A few minutes later the first victims began to arrive.

We were in one of the cubicles in A&E being seen by a nurse as my wife, Maria Sand had severe stomach pains. At about 1045pm we heard an intercom message on all the speakers saying that there had been a major incident and all available staff had to come and have a meeting. We heard that all the patients who weren’t critical had to be sent home. A nurse came into our cubicle and assured us we weren’t taking up anyone’s space as we needed to be there and could stay. He [the nurse] said that there had been a possible incident and people with gun wounds and stab wounds were on their way to the hospital.

We began to hear the ambulance sirens and then people came in on trolleys - there were a few of them, we were told one was a gunshot victim and the others were stabbings. Doctors and nurses continued to check up on my wife and then we were moved from our cubicle as they needed all of them - I think there are about 16 cubicles. It was very professional but very hectic.

We talked to one nurse who had finished her shift at 10pm and had arrived home as she lived close-by, however she heard the news and decided to come back in to help her colleagues. Another doctor was off-shift but had biked six miles to get back to the hospital. The staff have been amazing, managing to juggle care of the victims and the patients that already had been admitted.

Thornberry says election should go ahead on Thursday and people should 'come out defiantly and vote'

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, told ITV’s Peston that the election must go ahead on Thursday.

We need to be out there and we need to have the election and it needs to be on Thursday and we need to make sure that people come out defiantly and vote. Because in doing so they are underlining our fundamental values and showing how different we are [to the terrorists].

And earlier she told the BBC.

What they are trying to do is separate the very essence of London. We are an example to the world of a multi-racial, multi-national city. We can show the world how it can be. And they just want to undermine it. And we will not let them. We have to make sure that we continue to stick together defiantly and make sure that we work together, again as a community.

Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust dealt with nine patients, five of whom have since been discharged.

A spokeswoman for the trust said:

Following the terror incidents in London Bridge and Borough Market last night, we have treated nine patients at St Thomas’s - six men and three women. Five of the patients have since been discharged and four patients – two men and two women – have been admitted.

Updated

This police officer has posted a poignant message on Twitter:

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has said that the general election must go ahead and that Lib Dem national campaigning will only be suspended for a short time. In a statement, he said:

The terrorists kill us because they hate us and what we stand for. They hate our democracy and our freedom. We refuse to let them win. We must respond with a vigorous commitment to our democracy.

The election must go ahead as planned. It is right that we suspend our national campaigning for a short while out of respect for those affected by these tragic events, but local campaigning can and must continue.

The remainder of this campaign must be a collective showing of defiance and pride in our democratic values.

Updated

The Ulster Unionist party has announced it is suspending campaigning in Northern Ireland in the general election campaign on Sunday as a mark of respect for the dead and injured of the London Bridge/Borough Market attack.

The Democratic Unionist leader and former first minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, tweeted this morning:

Meanwhile, Ireland’s foreign minister, Charlie Flanagan, said the UK had been “subjected to cowardly and barbaric attacks”. Flanagan said the people of Ireland stand with the UK in this time.

Updated

Here is some more international reaction to the London Bridge attack.

From the Russian president Vladimir Putin

From the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi

From the Danish prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen

From Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister

From Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs

From Antonio Tajini, the European parliament president

From Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator

London attacks shock with "cruelty and cynicism" - Putin.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Sunday condemned the “cruelty and cynicism” of the London attack and called for greater joint efforts in the fight against terror, the Kremlin said.

“Putin expresses his profound condolences for the British people and condemns the terrorist attack carried out hours ago in London,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

“This crime shocks with its cruelty and cynicism,” the Russian leader was quoted as saying later in a telegram to the British prime minister, Theresa May.

“The Russian president expressed his certainty that the common response to what has happened should be an increase in combined efforts in the fight against the forces of terror around the world,” the Kremlin said.

The Russian embassy also confirmed no Russian citizens were among the victims of the attack.

Updated

Kieran Lovelace was on his way home from work in Liverpool Street and crossed London Bridge moments after the attack.

I was strolling home, Snapchatting away. As I’m walking across the bridge I saw (what) I thought was a car accident because I saw a lady talking to the police. I saw an injured couple probably in their mid-30s.

Near the edge of the bridge was another injured woman.

There was a load of people crowding around her. Everyone was civilians like myself trying to help out. I probably arrived there a minute after it happened. As I was going down the bridge I saw probably six or seven people from one end of the bridge to the other, injured, passed out, covered in blood.

“It was surreal, he said, his eyes welling with tears. Police, armed units and a helicopter arrived rapidly.

I saw the armed forces come in. It happened so quickly, I have to give props to the forces because they got there so quickly.

The response teams included “units I’ve never seen before”, he said.

I wasn’t aware of the incident in Borough Market, I was only aware of the bridge. People poured out of London Bridge station as it was evacuated and everyone was directed towards Tower Bridge.

Nobody knew what was happening: I had to ask people. I just saw all this carnage.

He was on the scene for about 15 minutes, he estimated. He described reaching the south end of London Bridge.

There’s a statue and there was a lady there with three kids. They were all hiding, she was blocking them. Just to see the terror on their face was a horrible thing to see.

Updated

Corbyn says attack must not disrupt democratic process

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has just told Sky News that the London Bridge attack was “dreadful” and praised the “brilliant” work of the emergency services.

He confirmed Labour was suspending national campaigning for a time, but he said the party would not let this disrupt its campaign for long.

We won’t be campaigning nationally during today, but we will resume later on because I think it’s important to give a message that democracy must prevail. If we allow these attacks to disrupt our democratic process, then we all lose.

Asked what impact the Manchester and London Bridge attacks would have on the election generally, he said he could not recall any precedent for this in an election.

I hope it will not disrupt our process, because we have to have a democratic process. But I also hope we will reflect on the need to have sufficient police officers on our streets, but also sufficient intelligence to look at the terrorist threat.

But in response, as in Manchester, all communities must come together. Our strength is the strength of our community unity. That was shown in Manchester straight after the horrible event there and I’m sure it will be the same in London.

Asked if the event would be a positive or negative for Labour, in the light of the fact the polls have shown the Tory lead narrowing, Corbyn said he would not comment. At the moment we should mourn those who died and thank those who helped out, he said.

Updated

A statement from the prime minister in Downing Street is imminent.

Updated

Simina Motalib who was caught up in the terror attack in Borough / London Bridge last night.
Simina Motalib who was caught up in the terror attack in Borough / London Bridge last night. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

Simina Motalib lives in Borough Market and was making her way home last night when she was caught up in the panic, as people ran screaming through the street, reports Hannah Ellis-Petersen.

She described the scene of carnage outside her door this morning, with the pavement covered in blood and abandoned clothes and shoes.

I live literally next to Borough Market. I was coming out of the tube station going home and I just suddenly heard people shouting ‘run, run’ and then there was this loud scream, it was a young woman, I think. So I just ran. My hands were shaking but I just ran through Borough Market and managed to get inside my house. As I went in I could see people running everywhere, they were crying, there were shoes on the floor. I could see an elderly couple trying to run but they couldn’t keep up with everyone. Neighbours were opening their doors trying to usher people in their houses. It was such a horrible thing to see all that panic. We didn’t know what was going on. I’ve lived here for 28 years and you don’t expect that to happen on your doorstep.

The first thing I saw when I opened the door this morning was blood literally everywhere. There were shoes, and clothes scattered and just so much blood on the pavements and on the road.

As a British-born Muslim, it’s awful to me to hear them using Islam when they carry out these barbaric acts, particularly in the month of Ramadam. Islam is a religion of peace, so this is so wrong.

Updated

My colleague Alice Ross is in the London Bridge/Borough area.

Updated

Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, has refused to suspend Ukip campaigning because he believes that is what terrorists would want. In a statement, he said:

With more people murdered on the streets of our capital city last night by Islamist terrorists, it is more important than ever for us to confront this evil with the democratic principles that have made this country what it is.

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of those who lost their lives last night. The courage and quick response of our emergency services have yet again saved countless lives and in the midst of such a tragedy, deserve our respect and admiration.

It is time to start honouring our dead with more than just words. The only guarantee that will come from our choosing to stall the democratic process again will be more attacks; it is what these cowards want us to do.

For those of us seeking to serve the people of this country, it is our duty to drive the dialogue on how best to confront and defeat this brand of terrorism. That is what Ukip will be doing today and beyond. Therefore, I refuse to suspend campaigning because this is precisely what the extremists would want us to do.

Updated

Asked if she knew the “identity of the suspects”, Dick replied: “I don’t.”

Updated

Officials will be considering whether threat level should be raised - Met chief

Dick said the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) would be considering whether to raise the official threat level to its highest – from severe to critical.

The threat level was raised and lowered again in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing.

JTAC will be assessing whether the threat level will go up or not. If it were to go up or if we felt there was a particular need for military support we absolutely would ask for it.

Dick said she was working on assumption that the Met would be sharing intelligence with the US authorities.

My working assumption is we will of course be sharing information appropriately with our American colleagues,” she said. This comes after US officials leaked intimate details of the Manchester Arena investigation to US press.

Addressing resources at the Met, she said:

We have very good resources, we have extraordinarily trained people. We have excellent working relationship with our colleagues in the agencies.

These sorts of things are hard to predict and sometimes sadly as has been proven in the recent weeks are hard to prevent. In light of Westminster, Manchester, we will look at our resource levels and how we use them.

Cressida Dick speaking this morning
Cressida Dick speaking this morning Photograph: Sky News

Updated

Scotland’s political parties have also suspended national campaigning today, with Scottish Labour’s leader Kezia Dugdale cancelling her event in their target seat of East Lothian and Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, cancelling his in their target seat of East Dunbartonshire.

The Scottish National party said “appropriate” local campaigning would continue but events with Nicola Sturgeon would not, although that would be reviewed during the day. “Our thoughts are with those affected by the frightening events in London,” a spokesman said.

Respect for those who lost their lives must be our priority. However it is also important, especially so close to an election, that the terrorists do not succeed in their attempts to undermine our democracy.

Dugdale said:

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families after the horrific terrorist attacks in London last night.

Once again our nation finds itself under attack from those who hate our way of life and seek to change us. But we will not allow that to happen, because the values that they hate - democracy, the rule of law and tolerance - are what make our country so special. It’s why Britain is a beacon for other nations around the world. We will not let the terrorists win.

In England the Green party has said it will suspend national campaigning until this evening. But local campaigning will continue. Jonathan Bartley, the party’s co-leader, said:

As in Manchester, and in the aftermath of the Westminster attacks, people will come together in the coming days and demonstrate that our way of life is precious and will not be surrendered to those determined to spread fear.

In Wales the Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said:

This is another devastating attack. Plaid Cymru extends its condolences to the people affected and the emergency services that work so hard in these difficult circumstances. People deserve to live their lives without fear, and we must come together to reject hate.

People risked their own lives to confront suspects - Met chief

Dick paid tribute to the police, emergency services and members of the public who came to the aid of the injured – and confronted the attackers.

She said:

In the early hours of this morning I visited one of the hospitals in London. There, I heard truly remarkable stories and extraordinarily brave actions by officers on and off duty first on the scene. I heard of colleagues of other emergency services and members of the public who ran towards the danger as the incident unfolded.

Many, many people risked their own safety to help others and treat those seriously injured and indeed to confront suspects involved. The courage of those people during and following the attack was extraordinary and I pay tribute to all of them ... I’m sure they helped to save lives.

Updated

We believe incident is under control - Met chief

Dick says the incident is under control but police officers need to conduct thorough search of the area to make sure all are accounted for.

The cordon will remain, she says.

I appreciate this has been a terrifying experience for many people.

Updated

Seven members of the public died - Met chief

Cressida Dick speaking this morning outside New Scotland Yard
Cressida Dick speaking this morning outside New Scotland Yard Photograph: Sky News Live

Cressida Dick, the Met police commissioner, has said seven members of public have died in the attack, at least 48 are injured.

Updated

David Davis said postponing the election would be wrong

David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has just told BBC News it would be wrong to postpone the general election. That is not what the public would want, he said. And, even if it was desirable, he said he was “not sure that it can be legally done”.

Davis said he did not know whether the attack was intended to disrupt the election. If it was, that was all the more reason not to postpone it, he said.

I think we are locked into [June 8]. I think, actually, the public would want us to be locked in. There is a balance of things here. Clearly we want to respect the people who have been injured and killed, we want to pay proper respect, therefore we don’t want to carry on across it. But on the other hand the people doing this are doing it because they despise the freedoms we have, and those freedoms can be the freedom to go out on a Saturday night, or the freedom to cast a vote.

And it may be - we don’t know, at least I don’t know, I’m not briefed this morning on this - I don’t know whether or not they are deliberately trying to disrupt the general election, or whether this is a coincidence of timing ... in which case, all the more reason not to defer, not to deflect, to as far as possible, within the grounds of propriety, to actually not let this put us off course.

Citing Spain and the Madrid bombing as an example, he said other European countries have gone ahead with elections shortly after a terrorist attack.

Updated

Greater Manchester police confirm the One Manchester concert and Michael Carrick testimonial match are to go ahead.

Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan from Greater Manchester police said:

We’re deeply saddened to hear about last night’s horrific attacks in London and our thoughts are with everyone affected, including the emergency services responding to the incident.

There are two large-scale events taking place in Greater Manchester today and we would like to assure people that these will still take place, but with additional security in place to ensure the safety of everyone.

We have dedicated resources at both events, with a significant number of officers from both GMP and colleagues from other forces, some of which will be armed. There will be additional security checks taking place and everyone will be searched, including bags. We would ask people not to bring bags if they can, as this will help speed up entry.

I’d like to remind people that the threat level remains at severe, which means an attack is highly likely. Please remain vigilant at all times and report anything suspicious that causes you concern to the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321 or 999 in an emergency.

Updated

Borough High Street is still sealed off a couple of hundred metres
from the market, with an unsurprisingly heavy police presence on the cordon, watched by a clutch of TV crews, Alice Ross reports.

A single bunch of sunflowers lay on a traffic island.

Antonio Gonzalez, an assistant manager at the St Christopher’s Inn, just inside the cordon, said: “I saw so many police cars going that way so I went to check Borough Market.”

As he reached Starbucks, he saw the police firing. “It was really fast,” he said. “I couldn’t see it that clearly but apparently there were two to three terrorists and they started shooting at them. I came back to the hostel to take everyone out.”

The hostel’s 52 guests, all of whom are safe and well, were evacuated to a sister hostel. Gonzalez, with other hostel staff, was overseeing guests as they returned in small groups to collect their belongings. He was dazed. “I couldn’t sleep at all last night, he said.

Yu An Lee, a hostel guest from Korea, was shivering in shorts and a T-shirt in the early morning as he waited to be allowed in. His mother, in a light T-shirt and sandals, wrapped her arms around him as they waited. They had arrived from Italy and checked in at about 10pm.

“We heard a big sound, like people shouting to each other. We thought someone was fighting or having an argument – it was very loud,” he said. “Five minutes later the staff came to the building and told us to stay in the building because it was very dangerous. The staff said she didn’t know what was going on. There was panic.”

Two or three minutes later the police came to the first floor and
ordered people to leave as soon as possible. Officers on the street
ordered people to run south.

“Me and my mum started to run as fast as we can ... everyone was really terrified,” he said. In the commotion, Lee couldn’t see what was happening behind them. “All we thought about was running away. Lots of people were running together. We tried to stay in a group.”

They didn’t stop until they reached Elephant and Castle, 15-20 minutes away.

“This area was really in a panic,” he said. “As we got further away
from the scene people seemed to be normal, just smoking, riding on the bus. It seems some people didn’t know what was going on.” For Lee and his mother, newly arrived in an unfamiliar city, the contrast was stark.

“We were terrified and horrified. All we could think about was
running away and trying not to get separated.We really didn’t have any idea what was going on ... nobody explained to us what was going on.”

They were taken to a hostel in Camden, where staff tried to make them comfortable in communal areas. Learning the incident was a suspected terror attack made him “more terrified,” he said. “Last night I thought something was going terribly. But I just read the news this morning and actually there was terror.”

This was “especially horrifying”, he said.

Borough high street cordoned off this morning
Borough high street cordoned off this morning Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Four french victims injured - French foreign minister

Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s foreign minister, has said there are four French victims injured in the London Bridge attack, one of them seriously.

Updated

In a tweet posted in the early hours of Sunday, the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, said he was monitoring the attacks with worry and sadness, adding: “Our solidarity and support to the authorities and to the British people.”

The country’s foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, tweeted: “My condolences on a tragic night. We stand with the victims and their families.”

The Spanish consulate in London tweeted emergency phone numbers for those concerned about friends and relatives in London who may have been caught up in the attack.

Updated

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said earlier the general election should not be postponed. “They want to stop us voting on Thursday in the general election … we can’t allow them to do that,” he said. (See 7.22am.)

In practice, postponing the general election is not a realistic possibility, because it would be extremely difficult. Many people have already cast postal ballots. David Boothroyd, a parliamentary expert, reckons the government would have to declare a state of emergency for this to happen.

There is provision in the Representation of the People Act for a general election to be delayed for a fortnight – but that only applies in the event of the monarch dying between the dissolution of parliament and polling day.

In 2001, Tony Blair did “delay” the general election for a month because of the foot and mouth outbreak. It was expected in May, but took place in June. But Blair had never actually announced that the general election would be in May – it was just widely assumed it would coincide with the local elections, which were formally delayed – and so the comparison is not really relevant.

Updated

A man from New Zealand has been put in an induced coma after being seriously injured in the attacks, New Zealand media report.

Oliver Dowling, from Christchurch, was among those injured in the Borough Market stabbing, according to his family. His sister, Freddy, says he’s in an induced coma after being stabbed in the face, neck and stomach. The injuries missed his vital organs, she says.

Updated

Attackers shouted "this is for Allah" - eyewitnesses

The BBC has spoken to witnesses who heard one of the attackers shout “this is for Allah” before stabbing a woman several times.

Alex was in the Mudlark pub, close to Southwark Cathedral.

A woman probably in her early 20s staggered into the pub and she was bleeding heavily from the neck and from her mouth. It appeared to myself and to my friends that her throat had been cut. People went to her aid. The pub was then closed. We saw police on the roads nearby. As we were told to leave the area by armed police, as we were running away from there, I could see to my left there was a further individual having CPR performed on them by the emergency services.

Another witness, Eric, said:

Three men jumped out of the van and that’s when they started attacking people on the road. As they headed down the stairs, as they were running towards the people they were shouting this is for Allah.

Mark told the BBC he was taking photographs on London Bridge when he saw the van hitting pedestrians on the bridge.

It was swerving from side to side and I could see it hitting people and there was a group about 20 or 30 yards in front of me. The van hit those people. At that moment I was doing that calculation of trying to work out which direction should I run.

Ben was outside Borough tube station. He said:

I saw a man in red with quite a large blade. I am guessing 10 inches. He was stabbing a man, maybe three times, fairly calmly. It looked like the man maybe had been trying to intervene but there wasn’t much he could do. He was stabbed quite coldly and slumped to the ground.

Gerard was in the Borough Market area as the three attackers ran through attacking people in with knives in two pubs and a restaurant. He said he was threatened, but fought them.

I threw something at them, maybe like a stool, a chair, and as I threw it at them it him one of them, maybe two of them on the head here, on the back. Then they ran towards me to try and stab me so I ran away because I knew if I would have slipped over I would be a dead man, I’d be dead, I’d have been killed there and then.

Updated

Corbyn - Labour party national campaigning suspended

The leader of the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, has confirmed national campaigning has been suspended. He said:

We are all shocked and horrified by the brutal attacks in London. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have died and the many who have been injured. Today, we will all grieve for their loss.

I would like to thank the police and emergency services for their bravery and professionalism in acting to save lives and deal with these appalling acts of terrorism, as well as NHS staff and members of the public who sought to protect others.

The Labour party will be suspending national campaigning until this evening, after consultations with other parties, as a mark of respect for those who have died and suffered injury.

Those who wish to harm our people, divide our communities and attack our democracy will not succeed. We will stand together to defend our common values of solidarity, humanity and justice, and will not allow terrorists to derail our democratic process.

Hi, Jamie Grierson here, taking over live coverage of the horrific terror attacks in London last night at London Bridge and Borough Market.

What we know so far

The attacks

  • Six people have been killed in a terrorist attack in London late on Saturday night.
  • Attackers drove a van across London Bridge, deliberately targeting pedestrians, before leaving the vehicle and stabbing passersby in Borough Market.
  • The three suspects – all male – were shot dead by armed police, who arrived on the scene eight minutes after the first emergency call was made.
  • Canisters seen around the body of at least one of the suspects have been “established to be hoaxes”, police said.
  • At least 48 people have been taken to five hospitals across the capital to be treated for their injuries. Some are in a serious condition. Other walking wounded were treated at the scene or at a rescue centre set up in a hotel at Liverpool Street.
  • An officer from the British Transport police was among those seriously injured. He was one of the first officers on the scene and suffered wounds to his face, head and leg.
  • At least two French citizens and one Australian citizen are also among the wounded.
  • The names of those killed – and the perpetrators – are not yet known.
  • No related arrests have been reported, and police say they believe the three men shot dead were the people directly responsible for the attack. The investigation into a possible wider network continues.
  • A crashed van abandoned at the scene on Borough high street appeared to be a B&Q/Hertz hire van.
  • A stabbing in Vauxhall on Saturday night was not connected to the terror attacks, police confirmed.
*** BESTPIX *** *** BESTPIX *** Police Attend Incident At London Bridge *** BESTPIX ***LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 04: People are lead to safety away from London Bridge on June 4, 2017 in London, England. Police have responded to reports of a van hitting pedestrians on London Bridge in central London. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
People are taken to safety away from London Bridge. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

The reaction

  • The prime minister, Theresa May, is chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee this morning. London mayor Sadiq Khan will attend.
  • Campaigning for Thursday’s general election has been suspended, with the Conservatives and the SNP saying they would not campaign today, and other major parties expected to follow suit.
  • World leaders have expressed condolences, with German chancellor Angela Merkel expressing her “sadness and dismay” and French president Emmanuel Macron saying France was “more than ever” at the side of the UK.
  • But US president Donald Trump faced criticism after using the London attacks to argue for his travel ban.
  • A concert in Manchester on Sunday evening in support of those killed and injured in the attack on that city less than a fortnight ago, will go ahead, organisers say. Ariana Grande, whose concert at Manchester Arena was targeted and who will perform this evening, tweeted her support for those affected by the London attack:

Updated

The Scottish National party will also suspend campaigning for the general election today.

Party leader and Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would chair a meeting of the devolved government’s resilience committee to discuss the attack.

Sturgeon said:

Following the horrific terrorist attack in the centre of London last night, we are working closely with the UK government and Police Scotland to monitor the situation …

My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have tragically lost their lives and with everyone who has been harmed or affected by these terrible incidents.

The meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee is beginning shortly; ministers are arriving at Downing Street. London mayor Sadiq Khan will also attend.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has expressed her “sadness and dismay” at news of the attack:

Today, we are united beyond all borders in horror and sorrow, but also in determination.

In the fight against every form of terrorism, we stand firmly and with determination at Britain’s side.

At least 48 injured people were taken to hospitals across the capital after the attack.

Fourteen of them – six women and eight men – were taken to King’s College hospital, in Denmark Hill, south London. A spokesman for the hospital said this morning:

The emergency department at King’s College hospital received 14 casualties (six females and eight males) following the incidents at London Bridge and Borough Market in central London.

One patient has been discharged.

Members of the emergency services attend to persons injured in an apparent terror attack on London Bridge in central London on June 3, 2017. Armed police fired shots after reports of stabbings and a van hitting pedestrians on London Bridge on Saturday in an incident reminiscent of a terror attack in March just days ahead of a general election. / AFP PHOTO / DANIEL SORABJIDANIEL SORABJI/AFP/Getty Images
A fleet of ambulances attended the scene. Photograph: Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images

The BBC has spoken to several eyewitnesses who have given accounts of several stages of the attack. Mark told the BBC he was taking photographs on London Bridge when he saw the van hitting pedestrians on the bridge:

It was swerving from side to side and I could see it hitting people and there was a group about 20 or 30 yards in front of me. The van hit those people. At that moment I was doing that calculation of trying to work out which direction should I run.

Ben was outside Borough tube station:

I saw a man in red with quite a large blade. I am guessing 10 inches. He was stabbing a man, maybe three times, fairly calmly. It looked like the man maybe had been trying to intervene but there wasn’t much he could do. He was stabbed quite coldly and slumped to the ground.

Gerard was in the Borough Market area as the three attackers ran through attacking people in with knives in two pubs and a restaurant. He said he was threatened, but fought back:

I threw something at them, maybe like a stool, a chair, and as I threw it at them it him one of them, maybe two of them on the head here, on the back. Then they ran towards me to try and stab me so I ran away because I knew if I would have slipped over I would be a dead man, I’d be dead, I’d have been killed there and then.

Alex was in the Mudlark pub, close to Southwark Cathedral:

A woman probably in her early 20s staggered into the pub and she was bleeding heavily from the neck and from her mouth. It appeared to myself and to my friends that her throat had been cut. People went to her aid.

The pub was then closed. We saw police on the roads nearby. As we were told to leave the area by armed police, as we were running away from there, I could see to my left there was a further individual having CPR performed on them by the emergency services.

Following French media reports that at least two French citizens were injured in the attack, here is the statement from the president’s office:

The statement from the Élysée said:

The attack which struck London, days after that which took place in Manchester, is a new abominable and cowardly attack against our free society.

Fellow French citizens are among the injured. France is putting everything in place to assist them.

The Conservatives have suspended national election campaigning after the terrorist attack on London Bridge in which at least six people were killed and the three attackers shot dead by police.

While local work such as leafleting would go on, the party said it had decided to not campaign nationally on Sunday, with the suspension to be reviewed over the day, and as more details emerge of the attack and its aftermath.

Other parties had yet to comment, but it appeared likely both Labour and the Liberal Democrats would follow suit, with the election just four days away.

It is the second terrorism-related suspension of the campaign – it stopped for three days after last month’s suicide bomb attack in Manchester, which killed 22 people.

My colleague Hannah Ellis-Petersen is in Borough this morning:

Dozens of people who live in the Borough market area or were staying at hotels nearby have spent the night sleeping in the lobby of the Hilton London Bridge, huddled under duvets on chairs and makeshift beds made from sofas and benches.

Ian, who lives on the riverfront near Borough market and has not been allowed back to his flat, said he had been eating at Fish restaurant on the other side of Borough market from the attack when at around 10.15pm they noticed people running past the window screaming.

“We started to notice people running past rather frantically, but we didn’t think too much about it initially because it’s Saturday night,” he said. “But suddenly we noticed the manager telling people to come inside, so I realised something was wrong. They brought us all into the restaurant kitchen where there were no windows, because the whole restaurant is glass.

“Then around 11am, the police came storming in and said ‘follow us with your hands on your head’ and they walked us all to a safe position the other side of London bridge. There were policemen with guns lining the whole area where we walked but we didn’t really have time to notice anything around.

“There was complete panic but I must say the police handled it very professionally.”

Incident at London BridgePolice on Southwark Bridge Road, London, near the scene of last night’s terrorist incidents in London Bridge and Borough Market. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday June 4, 2017. See PA story POLICE Bridge. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Police on Southwark Bridge Road on Sunday morning. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says one Australian has been injured, and officials are looking into reports a second was also caught up in the attack:

One case has been confirmed and the Australian concerned is in hospital. In the other case, we are continuing to make inquiries.

Our officials will continue to provide every assistance they can to Australians affected by this shocking attack and their families.

A man reported missing by friends overnight has been located in hospital, where he is intensive care, Press Association reports:

Geoff Ho, a business editor with the Sunday Express, is in intensive care after allegedly being stabbed.

Friends had tweeted that Ho was put in an ambulance after being injured near the Southwark Tavern.

His friend Isabelle Oderberg tweeted: “We have found Geoff. He is in intensive care.

“Thank you for the RTs and messages. I’ll be going offline now until I hear more.”

The Metropolitan Police has a casualty bureau for anyone concerned about friends or relatives. There are two numbers to call:

  • 0800 096 1233
  • 020 7158 0197

My colleague Alice Ross is at the Andaz hotel in Liverpool Street, which was used overnight as a rescue centre for less seriously injured victims of the attack:

Arthur Ventura, from Birmingham, was staying at the Andaz hotel, where the walking wounded were taken. He was meeting a friend at about 11pm when he saw people arriving. “I saw a few victims or casualties that were taken here to the hotel,” he said.

“All the casualties were taken to the first floor to be treated.”

Ventura saw about four casualties, including a man with a head wound and another who was unable to walk properly. “There were no paramedics [at that time]: it was all staff helping people,” he said.

Staff were calm and helpful, giving out bottles of water and giving first aid to the wounded. “They weren’t panicking.”

Ventura went out for the evening. When he returned to the hotel at 5am security was tight. “There were still police and hotel staff were asking for ID,” he said. He was smoking outside, unable to sleep.

Three armed police at the hotel doors left at around 7am and a member of hotel staff said nobody involved in the incident was still at the hotel.

A photo from the Andaz Hotel in London, UK, which is the official rescue centre after the London Bridge attacks. There are four ambulances, an ambulance control unit and at least 30 emergency service workers and armed guards. 4 June 2017.
Emergency services at the Andaz hotel overnight. Photograph: Carmen Fishwick for the Guardian

At least two French citizens have been injured, one seriously, Reuters reports, citing the French president’s office.

Sadiq Khan: election should not be postponed

Khan confirms he will be attending the government’s emergency Cobra committee meeting this morning.

He says, although campaigning is suspended today, Thursday’s general election should go ahead:

They [the terrorists] want to stop us enjoying the freedoms that we have … they want to stop us voting on Thursday in the general election … we can’t allow them to do that.

I’m not an advocate of postponing the election, I’m a passionate believer in democracy … One of the things these terrorists hate is democracy.

People should remain calm and vigilant, carry about their normal business.

But he adds:

The threat level remains severe … [that] means an attack across the country is still highly likely.

Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the next few days … some of it armed officers.

But Khan says London is one of the safest global cities in the world.

Updated

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has been speaking about last night’s attack. He says he is “appalled and furious that these cowardly terrorists would deliberately target innocent Londoners”.

There can be no justification …

Six people have been killed, more than 40 have been injured – some of them, I’m afraid are critical.

Khan says the emergency services “reacted heroically”:

As a result of their swift action, fewer people have died than would otherwise have been the case.

Tories confirm suspension of election campaign

Other major parties are also expected not to campaign today. The Conservative party has just issued this statement:

The Conservative party will not be campaigning nationally today. We will review as the day goes on and as more details of the attack emerge.

Vehicle appears to be B&Q/Hertz hire van

Images from the scene this morning show the crashed van driven by the suspects across London Bridge:

The van appears to be an hourly hire Hertz vehicle, rented via a B&Q DIY store, as the image from the rental website shows:

A Hertz/B&Q hire van that appears to match the vehicle used by three men to attack people on London Bridge on 3 June 2017.
This screengrab from the B&Q website shows a van for hire of the kind apparently used by the attackers on London Bridge.

Updated

General election campaigning suspended

Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, reports that national campaigning for Thursday’s general election has been suspended:

Local campaigning – door-knocking and leaflet dropping – will continue, Peston reports.

After the attack on Manchester Arena, the major parties suspended national campaigning for three days.

Overnight, my colleague Carmen Fishwick was at Liverpool Street, outside the Andaz hotel, which is being used as an official rescue centre.

She reported that there were four ambulances, an ambulance control unit and at least 30 emergency service workers and armed guards on the scene, with at least two people being treated: one with a head injury and a woman in a wheelchair:

I spoke to a man who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the attack, whose car has been impounded by police.

A 25-year-old man, who wishes to remain anonymous, was driving across the bridge when he saw a man and a pregnant woman unconscious on the road. He says they were there for at least five minutes before the emergency services arrived.

“We thought it was a car accident but as we got closer we could see a lot of blood and bodies. There was a pregnant woman on the right who was severely injured and on the left there was a man being resuscitated, but he started breathing. We don’t know whether the woman survived.

“We had to get out of the car and there were lots of people screaming. And then ambulances arrived. It was a shocking experience.”

A photo from the Andaz Hotel in London, UK, which is the official rescue centre after the London Bridge attacks. There are four ambulances, an ambulance control unit and at least 30 emergency service workers and armed guards. 4 June 2017.
The Andaz hotel, the official rescue centre after the London Bridge attacks. Photograph: Carmen Fishwick for the Guardian

Updated

Saturday night’s terrorist incidents in London prompted the first use of a new police warning to the public, to “run, hide, tell” in the event of an attack.

As the incident was underway, the London Metropolitan police issued an alert through social media channels, warning people in the area to run away from any threat, rather than surrender or attempt to negotiate. If that wasn’t possible, they should instead hide, turn their phone to silent and barricade themselves in before calling police.

Many people out in London did not get the chance. Others, according to reports, instead took on the attackers head-on in an attempt to rescue victims, fighting back with chairs and pint glasses.

In an information video about the new campaign, assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said the instructions were based on proven advice.

“Everyone’s aware of the terrorism challenges across the world,” he said. “It can never cater for every possible eventuality and, if someone acts on instinct and perhaps decides to fight because they have no choice, we would never criticise them for that.”

Initial police reports said at least 20 people had been taken to hospitals across the capital. That number has now risen to 48. Other “walking wounded” were treated at the scene.

An ambulance crew arrived at the scene six minutes after the first emergency call.

Here is the statement from London Ambulance Service assistant director of operations, Peter Rhodes:

Our thoughts are with all of those affected by the incident at London Bridge and their friends and family.

We took 48 patients to five hospitals across London and treated a number of others at the scene for minor injuries. Police have confirmed that sadly, six people also died at the scene.

We were called to the incident at 10.07pm (Saturday 3 June), with the first ambulance crew arriving within six minutes.

We sent over 80 of our medics to the scene including ambulance crews, advanced paramedics, specialist response teams and an advanced trauma team from London’s Air Ambulance.

We declared a major incident and worked closely with other members of the emergency services at the scene. Our priority was to assess patients and ensure that they were treated and taken to hospital as soon as possible.

48 people injured

London Ambulance Service confirms it has taken 48 people to five hospitals across London.

It says that is in addition to the six people who died at the scene.

The three suspects were also shot dead by police at the scene.

With three suspects shot dead by police, investigators will be trying to establish quickly whether a wider network was involved.

Met police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said that officers believed all the attackers directly involved in the attack had been killed:

We believe three people were involved, but we still have got some more inquiries to do to be 100% confident in that.

Bethany Atkin, who works for the Guardian, was at Boro Bistro, a restaurant that sits under an overpass on Borough High Street, close to where the van driven by the attackers crashed:

We were sitting outside under umbrellas underneath the bridge and there was a shower of rubble that landed on the umbrellas. A van had crashed into the bridge.

We stood up, everyone was moving, I saw a man who was bleeding. I don’t know how he was injured. We ran into the restaurant and tried to find a safe place, but there wasn’t one.

Running back outside, Atkin saw another casualty:

We saw a woman with blood, about 20 metres from the bridge. I saw her lying down on the floor.

Atkin ran into London Bridge hospital to shelter but there was another commotion on the street:

A man was shouting and then everyone started screaming and running away from the man. It was very sinister.

The prime minister, Theresa May, was among political leaders expressing their thanks to emergency services for their response to the terror attack.

May has broken off from campaigning for Thursday’s general election, and will chair an emergency meeting of the government’s crisis committee, Cobra, on Sunday morning. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, will also attend.

What we know so far

  • Six people have been killed in terror attacks on London Bridge and at Borough Market.
  • Attackers drove a van across London Bridge, targeting pedestrians, before leaving the vehicle and stabbing passersby.
  • Three male suspects have been shot dead by police. Metropolitan police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said the men were dead eight minutes after the first emergency call was received.
  • Canisters seen around the body of at least one of the suspects have been “established to be hoaxes”, police said.
  • At least 30 people injured in the attacks have been taken to five hospitals across London. Others were treated at the scene.
  • One of those injured was a British Transport police officer who was one of the first on the scene in response to calls from help from the public. He was stabbed in the head, face and leg, but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
  • None of those killed or injured, or the perpetrators, have yet been named.
  • Police believe all of those directly responsible for the attack have been killed. Investigations are ongoing.
  • A stabbing in Vauxhall on Saturday night was not connected to the London Bridge attacks, police confirmed.
Police officers guard the approach to Southwark Bridge after an incident near London Bridge in London, Britain June 4, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Police officers guard the approach to Southwark Bridge. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

Updated

This image shows the journey taken by the van – north to south across London Bridge, before crashing in front of the Barrowboy and Banker pub at the top of Borough High Street.

Police said the assailants then left the vehicle and ran through Borough Market, stabbing people in bars and restaurants.

The crashed van apparently used by the three terror suspects can be seen this morning in front of the Barrow Boy and Banker pub, opposite London Bridge station:

The attackers were shot by police from an armed response vehicle, which patrol around Britain ferrying armed officers to incidents.

The numbers of ARVs were increased across Britain were increased after the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.

British police remain largely unarmed, unlike most of their counterparts across the world.

Armed police patrol near Borough Market.
Armed police patrol near Borough Market. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

Updated

Over 80 medics respond to attacks

Peter Rhodes, the London Ambulance Service assistant director of operations, has given more information on the emergency response to the attacks:

We have now taken over 30 patients to five hospitals across London following the incident at London Bridge. A number of other patients were treated for less serious injuries at the scene. Our thoughts are with everyone affected.

Over 80 of our medics have responded to this incident, including ambulance crews, advanced paramedics, specialist response teams and an advanced trauma team from London’s air ambulance.

We declared a major incident and continue to work closely with other members of the emergency services at the scene.

The injured are being treated at five London hospitals:

  • St Mary’s hospital
  • St Thomas’ hospital
  • University College hospital
  • King’s College hospital
  • The Royal London hospital

Dozens of Londoners and businesses have opened their doors to people stranded in the capital after the London Bridge attack by sharing offers on social media with the hashtag #SofaForLondon.

Nadine Stares said: “Sofabed available if you are stranded due to this sad incident at London Bridge #SofaForLondon”.

Another Twitter user who gave his name as Ben Andrews, wrote: “If anyone is caught in London Bridge incident needs place to sleep, we have a spare room 10mins walk away from #London Bridge #sofaforlondon.”

The Makersville bike workshop in Hackney tweeted: “#sofaforlondon heads up guys – if you’re stuck, let us know.”

Lots of other people used Twitter to offer help.

Three terrorist attackers killed six people and injured 30 in an atrocity that started with them driving a van into people on London Bridge and then stabbing people in nearby Borough Market.

Police said they had shot dead all three terrorists – who were wearing hoax suicide bomb vests – after armed officers rushed to the scene.

London Bridge shot PixHead 1
A man believed to be one of the suspects. The canisters were established to be hoax devices. Photograph: Gabriele Sciotto

People were left fleeing in terror as the attacks unfolded, with gunshots from police ringing out across the streets of central London.

Eyewitnesses told tales of horror with terrorists storming into a pub and restaurant to stab people, and of desperate attempts to fend off the the terrorist knifemen who chose to strike at soft targets.

The rampage lasted eight minutes, beginning at 10.08pm on Saturday, before the three men suspected of staging the attack were shot dead by police at around 10.16pm.

It is the third deadly attack in under three months on Britain, and comes days before the general election on Thursday.

Prime minister Theresa May broke off from campaigning and will chair an emergency meeting of the government’s crisis committee Cobra, on Sunday.

Footage taken by Lara Al-Ostta shows members of the emergency services helping people who are lying injured on London Bridge:

World leaders have sent swift messages of support even as the full extent of the terrorist attacks in London was still unfolding.

French president Emmanuel Macron said France was “more then ever” at the side of the UK. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau tweeted about the “awful news from London” and to direct Canadians in need of support to official channels.

The Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said his country’s “prayers and resolute solidarity” were with the people of Britain, and his foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said Australia stood ready to support the British government in responding to the attacks.

The president of the EU Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said his thoughts and prayers were with the victims and their families.

The White House has provided a readout of a telephone call between Donald Trump and Theresa May:

President Donald J Trump spoke with prime minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom today.

The president offered his condolences for the brutal terror attacks on June 3 in central London.

He praised the heroic response of police and other first responders and offered the full support of the United States government in investigating and bringing those responsible for these heinous acts to justice.

Apart from the wounded British Transport Police officer, we have no details yet about the identities of those injured or killed – including the three suspects who were shot dead by police.

Peter Rhodes, London Ambulance Service’s assistant director of operations, said they had taken “over 30 patients to five hospitals across London … a number of other patients were treated for less serious injuries at the scene”.

Those worried about relatives or friends who might have been caught up in the attacks are encouraged to call the Metropolitan police casualty bureau:

  • 0800 096 1233
  • 020 7158 0197

Updated

British Transport Police has confirmed one of its on-duty officers was seriously injured in the attack.

The male officer was one of the first on the scene “after he responded to calls for help from the public”, BTP said.

His injuries – to his head, face and leg – are serious but not thought to be life-threatening. He is currently being treated in a central London hospital.

Rowley, taking questions from reporters, clarified that police believe that only the three people shot dead by police were involved in the attack, but said enquiries were ongoing.

He did say that suspicions that explosives were involved – prompted by pictures showing what looked like canisters around a suspect’s chest – have “now been ruled out”.

Police statement in full

Here is the statement from assistant commissioner Mark Rowley:

Since late yesterday evening [Saturday, 3 June], the Metropolitan Police Service has been responding to incidents in the London Bridge and Borough Market areas of south London. We are treating this as a terrorist incident and a full investigation is already underway, led by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

You will understand that our knowledge of the incident is still growing but what we understand at the present time is:

    • At 22.08 yesterday evening we began to receive reports that a vehicle had struck pedestrians on London Bridge.
    • The vehicle continued to drive from London Bridge to Borough Market.
    • The suspects then left the vehicle and a number of people were stabbed, including an on-duty British Transport Police officer who was responding to the incident at London Bridge. He received serious but not life-threatening injuries. His family has been informed.
    • Armed officers responded very quickly and bravely, confronting three male suspects who were shot and killed in Borough Market. The suspects had been confronted and shot by the police within eight minutes of the first call. The suspects were wearing what looked like explosive vests but these were later established to be hoaxes.

The ongoing operation is led by the Met, working closely with British Transport Police, City of London Police, the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade.

At this stage, we believe that six people have died in addition to the three attackers shot dead by police. And at least 20 casualties have been taken to six hospitals across London, but numbers are still rising.

I’d like to repeat our request for the public to avoid the following areas: London Bridge and Borough Market. This is to allow emergency services to deal with this incident.

The investigation is being led by the Counter Terrorism Command and we would ask anybody who has images or film of the incident to pass those to police by uploading it at www.ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk.

Our thoughts are with all those involved and those responding to both incidents. Those who are concerned about a loved one can contact the casualty bureau on 0800 0961 233.

We are reviewing and planning to strengthen our policing stance across London over the forthcoming days, and there will be additional police and officers deployed across the capital.

I would like to ask the public to remain vigilant and let us know if they see anything suspicious that causes them concern and dial 999 immediately.

Updated

Here are the key facts from that Metropolitan police update:

  • Six people have been killed in terror attacks on London Bridge and at Borough Market.
  • Three male suspects have been shot dead by police.
  • Canisters seen around the body of at least one of the suspects have been “established to be hoaxes”, police said.
  • Police believe all of those directly responsible for the attack have been killed.

Canisters on suspects' bodies 'were hoaxes'

Mark Rowley, assistant commissioner for the Metropolitan police, has confirmed that the vehicle drove from London Bridge to Borough Market, hitting pedestrians on the bridge.

There, he said, the suspects left the vehicle and stabbed a number of people, including an on-duty police officer, who sustained serious injuries.

Armed response officers confronted three male suspects, who were shot and killed.

Rowley says the three suspects were shot within eight minutes of the first call to emergency services.

He says the canisters, or vests, seen on the body of at least one suspect, have been “established to be hoaxes”.

Updated

Three male suspects shot dead by police

Police confirm three male suspects were shot and killed by armed officers.

Six people killed in attack

Six people have been killed, the police have confirmed.

Police officers on the scene at Borough Market say the area will be closed for at least 24 hours. Dozens of fire rescue officers in hard hats and overalls are just leaving the scene.

Armed officers were protecting a hotel in central London where it is believed witnesses were taken after the incident. The receptionist said the hotel was a “crisis centre”, but could not tell how many had arrived from London Bridge.

Updated

Ariana Grande, whose concert in Manchester was the target of a terrorist attack less than two weeks ago, has tweeted her support for those caught up in tonight’s events:

Grande is due to lead a tribute concert in Manchester on Sunday evening to commemorate the 22 people killed and support the dozens who were injured.

Amber Rudd: 'horrific attack in the heart of our capital'

Here is the full statement from the home secretary, Amber Rudd:

This was an horrific attack in the heart of our capital city, targeted at people enjoying their evening with friends and family.

My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this incident.

As ever, in difficult and traumatic circumstances, I am extremely proud of and thankful to our police and emergency services who responded so swiftly and those who will work tirelessly as the investigation into this appalling act continues.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals, the closest to the site of the attacks, are on lockdown “to keep patients, relatives and staff safe”, they have reported, along with Evelina, a children’s hospital in south London.

London Ambulance Service has said at least 20 people have been taken to six hospitals across the capital.

Police officers speak with ambulance personnel after an incident near London Bridge in London, Britain June 4, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

Updated

Harun Khan, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, has issued a statement condemning the attacks on London:

I am appalled and angered by the terrorist attacks at London Bridge and Borough Market, in my home city. These acts of violence were truly shocking and I condemn them in the strongest terms.

Muslims everywhere are outraged and disgusted at these cowards who once again have destroyed the lives of our fellow Britons. That this should happen in this month of Ramadan, when many Muslims were praying and fasting only goes to show that these people respect neither life nor faith.

My prayers are with the victims and all those affected. I commend the work of our emergency services working hard to keep us safe and cope with the ensuing carnage. As ever, we urge everyone to assist the authorities so that these criminals can be apprehended and brought to justice.

(A reminder that we do not yet know the perpetrators of this attack and are awaiting further information from police on identities and motives.)

One of the questions the latest attack will prompt is why, after more than a decade of relative security, there have suddenly been three major attacks in the course of three months.

The police and the British domestic intelligence agency MI5 had a good record in combating terrorism, compared with other European countries such as France and Belgium.

After the 2005 London bombing, which killed 52 people plus the four terrorists, MI5 implemented a series of changes, including decentralisation to the Midlands, north of England, Scotland and Wales, to create a better network.

The changes seemed to work, with lots of plots stopped. Terrorist attacks until this year were restricted to single fatalities. Among them were the 2007 attack on Glasgow airport in which only the attacker was killed; a Ukrainian rightwing extremist who stabbed a man to death in Birmingham in 2013 and attacked mosques with homemade bombs; the two men who killed the soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby in 2013; and the murder of MP Jo Cox last year.

Since March there has been the Westminster attack by Khalid Masood, who mowed down pedestrians near parliament and stabbed a policeman, resulting in six deaths, including his own: and the Manchester bombing two weeks ago that killed 22. And now London again.

The security services disrupted 18 plots since June 2013 but had recently reported being concerned about an increased tempo in the number of plots.

Updated

The Met has opened a casualty bureau for those concerned about family and friends who might have been caught up in the attacks.

There are two numbers to call:

  • 0800 096 1233
  • 020 7158 0197

Updated

Police appeal for photos/videos from public

Police have asked people who were at the scene on London Bridge or in Borough Market to upload any pictures or videos they have taken to this police site.

My colleague Kate Lyons has been talking to people trying to get home with transport disrupted in the wake of the attacks:

Some underground lines have reopened and people are unusually chatty on the tube.

James Wilesmith, who moved to London from Bournemouth six months ago, was out with Sarah Phillips celebrating her birthday when they got caught up in the events. The pair had seen the Lion King in the West End earlier in the evening before deciding to go for a drink at the Walkie Talkie building, overlooking the river.

“We looked out and were like ‘oh, look at all the pretty blue lights’ and then we realised, oh no,” said Wilesmith.

They got stuck at various cordons and it took them several hours from the time of the attack to make it to a tube station where trains were still running.

“I’ve lived in London for six months and there have been two attacks,” he said. “I mean, you still go on with your life, I still get the tube everyday, but it hits home.”

Footage posted by journalist Kaine Pieri shows police officers clearing the area around London Bridge station in the wake of the attack:

A statement from the US state department has condemned the attack:

The United States condemns the cowardly attacks targeting innocent civilians in London this evening. We understand UK police are currently treating these as terrorist incidents. The United States stands ready to provide any assistance authorities in the United Kingdom may request.

Our hearts are with the families and loved ones of the victims. We wish a full and quick recovery to those injured in the attacks. All Americans stand in solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom.

Amber Rudd, the home secretary, has called the night’s incidents “a horrific attack in the heart of our capital city”.

She added:

My thoughts are with the victims and all of those affected.

Rudd said she was “extremely proud of our emergency services” for their response to the attacks.

At least 20 people taken to hospitals

London Ambulance Service says it has taken at least 20 patients to six hospitals across London:

We can confirm we have taken at least 20 patients to six hospitals across London following the incident at London Bridge.

We have also treated a number of people at the scene for less serious injuries.

We have declared a major incident and continue to work closely with other members of the emergency services. Our priority is to ensure patients receive the medical help they need as quickly as possible.

As we are very busy dealing with this incident, we would ask the public to only call us in a genuine emergency and to call NHS 111 for urgent healthcare advice.

Updated

Owen Evans, 39, was in the Wheatsheaf pub on Stoney Street near Borough Market on Saturday night, with friends, when shooting broke out nearby:

I was in the back of the pub. A wave of about 30 people ran in and tried to get into the cellar or cupboard. Then there were shots outside. They didn’t seem real – like a kid letting off firecrackers. We saw police lights and everyone got down under a table. People turned tables over.

We waited about 10 minutes or so, with several shots every couple of minutes. Someone at the front of the pub had been shot – it’s speculation but we thought it was by accident, there were bullet holes in the windows.

The people near the person called for a medic, shouting: ‘He’s fucking bleeding to death, we need a doctor.’ The bar staff were amazing, I think they locked the door so no one got in.

Then they told us to leave the pub and to run, and a policeman standing outside with a gun was shouting, ‘Go, get the fuck out.’ We ran down the street, turned left at the Market Porter, than ran down the road and away. We got to the South Bank and then waited ages for a tube, and eventually got home.

The Metropolitan police have confirmed at least one armed officer had opened fire during the attack at Borough market.

In information posted on Twitter, they said: “Armed officers responded and shots have been fired.”

The Met has not said whether the shots fired by their officer struck anyone or stopped a suspect.

Updated

Photo shows man 'with canisters strapped to body'

Pictures have been circulating showing a man on the ground; he appears to have canisters strapped to his body. The Guardian is not showing his face until his identity and connection to the incident has been established.

London Bridge shot PixHead 1
A man lies on the ground; he appears to have canisters strapped to his body. Photograph: Gabriele Sciotto

The photo was taken by Gabriele Sciotto, a Juventus fan, who said he was on his way home after watching his team play in the Champions League final. “I had just been watching the football at The Sheaf pub and I left. I was trying to figure out which way to go home and I went the wrong way.”

As he walked down Park Street he said a man came running towards him. “He was maybe 35. He was saying ‘run away, there’s a terrorist attack going on’. There were other people around and they started to run away.”

Sciotto, a documentary maker, instead walked on:

I’m a documentary maker. I was doing what I’m trained to do. It was dark, but behind him I could see three men at the other end of the street. They were about 20 metres away. It was quite confusing – it took me a few seconds to work out what was going on.

Sciotto said he saw them run in the opposite direction into Borough Market:

There was one policeman there, inside Borough Market. He was trying to scare them away. They ran towards me because the police officer was trying to chase them.

The three men ran out of Borough Market and turned left into Stoney Street towards the Wheatsheaf pub:

Suddenly lots and lots of police came from the other direction. There was a lot of shouting. ‘Stop, stop, get on the floor’, stuff like that. Then the police shot them.

The 25-year-old took pictures of the men after they had been shot, lying on the floor:

I could see one of them moving still. There was blood. I could see the police were scared. The policeman in Borough Market, he was trying to make sure that no one was hurt. He was trying to get them outside. The police reaction was very quick.

Updated

The Metropolitan police have issued a statement clarifying the timeline of events:

From 22.08hrs [on] 3 June officers responded to reports of a vehicle in collision with pedestrians on London Bridge. Officers have then responded to reports of stabbings in Borough Market. Armed officers responded and shots have been fired. Officers subsequently responded to an incident in the Vauxhall area.

At 00.25hrs [on] 4 June the incidents at London Bridge and Borough Market were declared as terrorist incidents. The incident at Vauxhall is a stabbing and is not believed connected to the other two incidents.

We will release facts when we can – our info must be accurate. We urge the public to remain calm, but be alert and vigilant. To anyone near an incident our advice is RUN – HIDE – TELL.

Updated

My colleague Colin Blackstock has been speaking to witnesses close to the scene:

The police cordons made it difficult for people to get where they were going and a number of people staying in hotels in the area have been unable to return to their rooms.

Elaine and Louise from Lurgan in Northern Ireland had been to the Olympic stadium in Stratford to see Depeche Mode. They were staying at the Premier Inn on Bankside but have been unable to get back to their hotel.

“We were at the concert when people started messaging us to ask us if we were OK because something had happened on London Bridge and they knew we were staying near there,” said Elaine. They were able to get a tube back to Southwark but found that the police cordon meant there was no way to get to their hotel.

“Now we’re stuck in London with nowhere to go and no sense of direction and sore feet,” Louise said. They had tried calling their hotel but there was no answer, so after an hour of walking around trying to find somewhere to stay they were going to another Premier inn at Tower Bridge to see if the hotel would put them up for the night.

Updated

Updated

The Metropolitan police said: “ The incident at Vauxhall is a stabbing and is not connected to the incidents at London Bridge and Borough Market.”

Updated

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, said:

Updated

Guardian journalist Kate Lyons has more on the evacuations going on in the area around London Bridge. Guests at hotels in the vicinity of the attack have been evacuated. Zaven Jordan who is visiting from Australia was staying in Novotel Southwark and was woken by a fire alarm. When guests assembled outside the hotel he said police told everyone to run.

“The police didn’t just give directions, they were yelling ‘run!’,” he said. “When a fire alarm goes off you expect to assemble and then go back inside in a few minutes. We grabbed our passports just in case, but we weren’t really ready for this.”

He is walking the streets trying to find somewhere to stay. He says the hotel is not answering their phone, he had been turned away by another hotel and he is uncertain where in the city it is safe to go.

Updated

Theresa May releases statement

Sky News have reported a statement from Theresa May: “Following updates from police and security officials, I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism.

“This is a fast-moving investigation. I want to express my huge gratitude to the police and emergency services who are on the scene. Our thoughts are with those who are caught up in these dreadful events.”

Updated

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has said he is in contact with the Metropolitan police commissioner.

Updated

Guardian journalist Chris Johnston is in the area of London Bridge, and says emergency services are continuing to descend on the area. He says a fire brigade command vehicle and operational support trucks and six fire engines just crossed Borough High Street along with two ambulances.

Meanwhile, life boats are coordinating with emergency services to evacuate members of the public on the Thames:

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, said on Twitter: “Brutal and shocking incidents reported in London. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. Thank you to the emergency services.”

Guardian journalist Kate Lyons is continuing to speak to people near the scene at London Bridge:

Leon Radschinski, a bartender who was working tonight at Caravan Bankside, a restaurant near London Bridge said they stopped serving after they began hearing reports of an attack, before police ran into the restaurant ordering everyone to get out and run south.

Radschiski has made it out of the cordoned area and is trying to make it home on a Boris bike.

The streets around London Bridge, outside of the cordoned area, are full of people desperately trying to get home. The underground and trains are not running and taxis are hard to come by.

One woman, visiting London from Yorkshire for a wedding, was in tears at the shock of the evening and overwhelmed at trying to find a way to her accommodation in Crystal Palace. Strangers are stopping to help one another in the street – offering advice on the best routes back and looking up locations for those without phones or GPS.

Updated

Guardian journalists at the scene are continuing to get eye-witness testimony of how the attack unfolded.

Olivia Doyle, 23, was travelling across London Bridge in a car with three family members, arriving to the sound of sirens.

She told the Guardian: “We arrived to see paramedics running to injured people. There were two people lying on the north end, on the east side of the bridge, just off the pavement. There were bits of what looked like car wreckage. We thought it was bits of bike or something. I saw four or five people lying on the ground, but everyone I saw was alive.

“It seemed like some kind of vehicle had knocked people down. They were two or three minutes walk apart, it obviously wasn’t an accident.

“I saw armed police officers shouting at people to stay in their cars, and pedestrians running past us off the bridge.

“We got out of our car and started running, then realised that we’d be better off in the car and we could be blocking the road, and the road was clear behind us except for a taxi that had been abandoned.”

The prime minister, Theresa May, who has been campaigning in the general election, was returning to Downing Street to receive further briefings from security officials, No 10 has confirmed.

The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said the US president, Donald Trump, has been briefed on the incident by his national security team.

The US president has recently tweeted:

Updated

Summary of what we know so far

  • Police are responding to reports of at least three incidents across parts of London.
  • The incidents are on London Bridge, Borough market and Vauxhall.
  • The first report was of a van ploughing into pedestrians on London Bridge.
  • Witnesses say the van was reported to have swerved onto the pavement and there have been unconfirmed reports of gunfire.
  • A second incident is ongoing in Borough Market where there are reports of multiple stabbings.
  • Police say they are responding to a third event at Vauxhall.
  • Downing Street says the prime minister has been informed of a major incident.
  • Police are urging people to stay away from the affected areas.

Updated

Police have established cordons around the scene at London Bridge. Police are continuing to urge members of the public to reach areas of safety.

Armed police responding to the incidents in London Bridge, Vauxhall and Borough Market.
Armed police at London Bridge. Armed offers are responding to the incidents in London Bridge, Vauxhall and Borough Market. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

The Metropolitan police are urging people in the areas of the incident in Vauxhall, London Bridge and Borough Market to get to safer areas away from the scenes.

Guardian journalist Kate Lyons has spoken to witnesses at the scene at London Bridge, who report stabbings have taken place:

Lara Al-Ostta was having drinks with a friend at the Old Thameside Inn underneath London Bridge when she said people came running into the pub and telling everyone to run away because “people are stabbing each other”.

Al-Ostta said she ended running up on to London Bridge – and she and her friend were told by the police to run away. While on the bridge Al-Ostta took video, seen by the Guardian, of at least three injured people on the bridge, being tended to by emergency services.

“I saw people moving, but we thought fuck this is a serious thing,” said Al-Ostta.

Stephen Tull, who is homeless, was under the bridge at the time of the attack when he heard a bang. He says he ran up on to the bridge to help and saw one man who jumped out of the van and began attacking people.

Updated

Reuters have posted footage from the police cordon at London Bridge.

The police say officers are also responding to an incident in Vauxhall.

Metropolitan police have confirmed reports of stabbings at Borough Market, where they say armed police have fired shots.

Updated

Journalists at the scene at London Bridge have been removed from the area by armed police.

Theresa May is aware of the incidents going on in London tonight.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister is in contact with officials and is being regularly updated on the incident at London Bridge.”

There are already offers of help coming in for those around the area of the attack, with one person offering minicab rides:

Will Heaven, a Spectator journalist who was passing London Bridge minutes after the incident, has told Sky News what he saw: “It was about 10 past 10. I was in the back of an Uber cab driving south over London Bridge.

“Suddenly on the left hand side on the bridge there was somebody down on the pavement with a small crowd around them, clearly concerned. I thought someone had collapsed. We drove a little further over the bridge. There was another person in the road itself. The penny dropped that something quite serious was happening.

“The traffic came to a standstill. The Uber driver said something bad is happening here. We could hear sirens coming.”

Updated

Footage is emerging of the public reaction to the incident on London Bridge. People in a bar were ordered to get back from doors and take cover as it unfolded.

The Metropolitan police say they are also responding to a second incident at Borough Market.

Our picture editor has sourced an image of the van thought to have struck pedestrians on London Bridge this evening.

Emergency services surround a van thought to have struck pedestrians on London Bridge.
Emergency services surround a van thought to have struck pedestrians on London Bridge. Photograph: Twitter

Latika Bourke is also reporting injured people being treated on the footpath of Southwark Street.

Updated

Latika Bourke, a journalist from Fairfax Media, has posted footage of people fleeing London Bridge as emergency services continue their work:

Updated

Police are treating injured people and carrying them away at the end of Thrale Street. Members of the public were told by police to “run as fast as they could” westbound.

Nick Archer, who was in the London Bridge area, told Sky News: “We came out (of a bar) on to the road and looked and looked to my left and there as a guy, I thought he was just drinking but he was lying on the floor. And then a couple of seconds later, about three police vans flew past.

“He looked in a bad way.”

Updated

Holly Jones, a BBC reporter at the bridge when the incident happened, said a van had swerved off the road into a crowd of pedestrians.

“A white van driver came speeding – probably about 50mph – veered off the road into the crowds of people who were walking along the pavement,” she told BBC News.

“He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind. I’d say there are about four severely injured people. They all have paramedics assisting them at the moment,” she said.

Updated

A journalist working for the Spectator magazine has reported seeing armed police and injured people in the area – with social media showing a large number of emergency service vehicles at the scene.

London Bridge has been closed after an incident on Saturday night, after witnesses said a van had hit pedestrians.

There are reports of casualties, with a witness telling the BBC that van had veered off the road and struck people.

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