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Westminster attack: parliament resumes with tributes to PC Keith Palmer – live
London attack: police confirm seven people arrested – live
(35 minutes later)
7.54am GMT
07:54
Rowley reiterates that police believe the attacker acted alone. He asks the media not to name him while investigations are ongoing.
7.49am GMT
07:49
Rowley says he will not confirm whether the attacker was a British national.
He declines to give any further detail on others killed and injured.
7.46am GMT
07:46
Police: 7 arrests at six addresses
Rowley says investigations are continuing and says he will not be identifying the attacker yet.
He confirms that related arrests have been made in Birmingham, London and elsewhere.
Seven arrests were made at six addresses, he says.
Updated
at 7.54am GMT
7.46am GMT
07:46
Death toll is four, including attacker
Mark Rowley, acting deputy commissioner at the Met, is speaking now outside Scotland Yard.
Four people are dead and 29 treated in five hospitals across London. Seven are in a critical condition.
This is a revised death toll – last night police said five had died.
The four are PC Keith Palmer, two members of the public – a woman in her mid-40s, and a man in his mid-50s – and the attacker.
7.36am GMT
07:36
We are expecting an update imminently from the Metropolitan police; we’ll have coverage live here when it begins.
7.34am GMT
07:34
MPs are heading in to work today in understandably sombre mood:
Like thousands of others who work there, I am heading into #Parliament as normal, but flags at half mast show it is a far from normal day pic.twitter.com/lXPiVwdSMj
Back to work after yesterday's tragic events. Area around Houses of Parliament eerily quiet, police cordon still at Lambeth Bridge
7.28am GMT
07:28
Cressida Dick, the incoming Metropolitan police commissioner, has praised the bravery of officers involved in the Westminster attack, Press Association reports:
In a message to staff Dick, who takes up the job next month, described Wednesday as a “tragic day for London and the Met”.
Dick, who visited New Scotland Yard last night, said:
One of our officers died protecting the public and Parliament. We will never forget his courage.
My deepest sympathy is with his family and with the loved ones of everyone who lost their lives.
My thoughts too are with the members of the public and our officers who were injured as well as those people affected by these appalling events.
As many parliamentarians have noted, our officers ran towards danger to do their jobs. We are indebted to their bravery.
Officers and staff from the Metropolitan Police are working as hard as we can to protect the public and our capital city.
I am grateful for all their efforts.
7.23am GMT
07:23
Brendan Cox – whose wife, Labour MP Jo Cox, was the last person to be killed by terrorism in the UK before yesterday’s attack – is speaking now to the BBC Today programme.
He says he would like to caution against “giving notoriety to the person who did it … I would much rather remember the heroes … talking about them is how we do justice”.
This is a story about people who didn’t come home yesteday and the impact this will have on their familes … the individual tragedies.
He says he “hated” seeing pictures of the man who killed his wife in the days and weeks after her murder:
Of course there’s going to be reporting on who did it, why he did it, his twisted ideology, but I’m going to remember PC Palmer.
I don't care about the name of the attacker. This is the name I will remember. https://t.co/2azZHWkJAk
Reactions to the attack should be directed at extremism, he added:
The person who did this is no more representative of Muslims than the person who killed Jo is representative of people in Yorkshire.
7.15am GMT
7.15am GMT
07:15
07:15
Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, is speaking on the Today programme. He says it appears the raid in Birmingham is linked to the investigation into the Westminster attack:
Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, is speaking on the Today programme. He says it appears the raid in Birmingham is linked to the investigation into the Westminster attack:
The indications are that the car began its journey in Birmingham … An address was raided by armed officers.
The indications are that the car began its journey in Birmingham … An address was raided by armed officers.
There are reports that a number of arrests were made at the address. Police have not yet commented. West Midlands police have directed media inquiries to Scotland Yard.
There are reports that a number of arrests were made at the address. Police have not yet commented. West Midlands police have directed media inquiries to Scotland Yard.
7.09am GMT
7.09am GMT
07:09
07:09
Anushka Asthana
Anushka Asthana
The prime minister will give a statement to parliament later this morning, which will also allow MPs to question her about the event.
The prime minister will give a statement to parliament later this morning, which will also allow MPs to question her about the event.
The aim is for parliament to return to normal today, in an attempt to prevent this attack from disrupting the work of either the Commons or Lords, although school trips will be cancelled.
The aim is for parliament to return to normal today, in an attempt to prevent this attack from disrupting the work of either the Commons or Lords, although school trips will be cancelled.
The government will first be represented by the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, this morning, followed by May.
The government will first be represented by the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, this morning, followed by May.
7.05am GMT
07:05
Speaking on Wednesday evening, Theresa May said the attack was an assault on democracy:
The location of this attack was no accident. The terrorists chose to strike at the heart of our capital city, where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech.
These streets of Westminster – home to the world’s oldest parliament – are engrained with a spirit of freedom that echoes in some of the furthest corners of the globe. And the values our parliament represents – democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law – command the admiration and respect of free people everywhere.
That is why it is a target for those who reject those values.
But let me make it clear today, as I have had cause to do before: any attempt to defeat those values through violence and terror is doomed to failure.
7.00am GMT
07:00
The BBC and Sky News are reporting that a number of arrests have been made in Birmingham, in a police raid believed to be connected to the attack in London.
The arrests – and any potential link – have not been confirmed by the police.
BBC Newsnight reported late on Wednesday evening that the car used in the attack could have been rented in Birmingham. The Guardian has not been able to verify this report.
West Midlands police has said of the raid that saw Hagley Road in south-west Birmingham closed for around two hours overnight:
There is an ongoing police operation, no further details are being given at this stage.
WMP referred media inquiries to the Metropolitan police in London, which said it would not be commenting for “operational reasons”.
An update from the Met is expected within the next two hours.
Updated
at 7.15am GMT
6.57am GMT
06:57
Jason Burke
The attack outside the Houses of Parliament in London is the latest in a series of terrorist atrocities involving a vehicle being driven at speed into pedestrians – a tactic actively promoted by Islamic State.
In December, a refugee in Germany drove a truck into a market in Berlin, killing 12. Last July, a stolen truck driven through a Bastille Day parade in Nice killed 86. The strikes appear inspired, if not actively commissioned, by Isis in Iraq and Syria.
In November, a student used a vehicle and knives to injure 13 on a campus in Ohio, in the US. His motives and allegiance are less clear.
Such attacks are not unprecedented, but have become much more numerous in recent years.
In 2014, the chief spokesman of the group, Mohammed al-Adnani, issued a call for sympathisers in the west to strike “unbelievers”, especially police officers or soldiers, where they were – rather than travel to the middle east to fight there.
“If you are not able to find a bomb or a bullet, then smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him,” he said.
Though al-Adnani, who was killed in 2016, pointed a finger specifically at France, where there were two vehicle attacks in 2014, he also cited the UK among preferred targets.
Updated
at 7.16am GMT
6.51am GMT
06:51
Thursday’s front pages are, of course, dominated by the attack in London. You can see our roundup here.
Many focus on MP Tobias Ellwood’s unsuccessful fight to save the life of PC Keith Palmer; others have chosen to picture the attacker, stretchered away after he was shot by armed officers.
Here is the Guardian front page today:
GUARDIAN: Terror in Westminster #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/LOvojb7vb5
6.38am GMT
06:38
Police have said 40 people were injured in the attack, many of them as the assailant drove his car deliberately into pedestrians on Westminster bridge.
Some are seriously wounded.
The death toll rose on Wednesday evening, with four victims – three members of the public, who have not been named, and the police officer PC Keith Palmer – and the attacker confirmed to have died.
Many of those injured remain in hospitals across London, including St Thomas’, King’s College and St Mary’s.
Two teenage French students were in a critical condition in hospital after being struck on the bridge. A third student was also being treated for injuries. One of the three had been thrown on to the bonnet of a car.
Five South Korean tourists, four students from Ormskirk’s Edge Hill University, and a German woman resident in Australia have been identified as among the wounded.
Three police officers on the way back from a commendation ceremony – one of whom is thought to have suffered head injuries – and a Romanian couple were also among those hurt on the bridge.
6.24am GMT
06:24
Read more
Here’s a roundup of our latest reporting on the attack:
Full report: police officer among five dead in ‘sick and depraved’ incident
London attack: what we know so far
‘Solidarity and support’: world leaders send wishes after attack
Tobias Ellwood MP hailed for attempting to save officer’s life
MPs honour the memory of murdered PC Keith Palmer
‘All hell was let loose’: witnesses on the Westminster attack
#WeAreNotAfraid: Londoners send out message after terror attack
Analysis and commentary is here:
Ewen MacAskill: Lone attackers are the biggest challenge for security services
Jason Burke: Crude nature of attack suggests limited Isis network in Britain
The Guardian view: Solidarity against terror
Jonathan Freedland: Bravery and simple humanity show Westminster at its best
John Crace: The numbing afternoon when I saw a police officer die outside parliament
Updated
at 6.40am GMT
6.17am GMT
06:17
Theresa May spent Wednesday afternoon being briefed on the details of the attack before chairing a meeting of Cobra, the emergency committee.
The committee could meet again on Thursday morning before May addresses MPs in the House of Commons, which will sit as usual.
Home secretary Amber Rudd and foreign secretary Boris Johnson were both overseas yesterday – in Pakistan and the US, respectively – but Rudd is returning.
London mayor Sadiq Khan attended the Cobra meeting, and is expected to make a fresh statement on Thursday.
6.14am GMT
06:14
Police have not named the attacker, who died after being shot by armed police inside the Westminster security cordon.
Speaking late on Wednesday evening, Metropolitan police acting deputy commissioner Mark Rowley said investigators believe they know the man’s identity.
He said the man was likely to have been acting alone, but confirmed they believed he was “inspired by international terrorism”, later clarifying that this referred to Islamist extremism.
6.05am GMT
06:05
MPs have been paying tribute to PC Keith Palmer, who was fatally stabbed within the Westminster security cordon.
Conservative MP James Cleverly said he was a former army comrade of Palmer: “I’ve known Keith for 25 years. We served together in the Royal Artillery before he became a copper. A lovely man, a friend. I’m heartbroken. My thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of PC Keith Palmer. A brave man.”
Home affairs select committee chair and Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who was in parliament when the terrorist attacked, said: “Thank you PC Keith Palmer – to your bravery many others owe their lives and safety.”
Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger said: “May PC Keith Palmer rest in peace. He died protecting our democracy. My sincerest condolences to all of his family and friends.”
5.49am GMT
05:49
Opening summary
Claire Phipps
Parliament will resume today after Wednesday’s terrorist attack in the capital.
Here is what we now know:
Five people are now confirmed to have died in the attack on Westminster on Wednesday: one police officer, three members of the public, and the attacker.
The police officer has been named as PC Keith Palmer, 48, a member of the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, with 15 years’ service in the force. He was unarmed.
Metropolitan police acting deputy commissioner Mark Rowley said Palmer was a husband and father:
He was someone who left for work today expecting to return home at the end of his shift and he had every right to expect that would happen.
The other victims of the attack, and the assailant, have not yet been named.
Police said 40 other people were injured; many remain in hospital, some in a serious condition.
Five South Korean tourists, four students from Ormskirk’s Edge Hill University, and a German woman resident in Australia have been identified as among the wounded.
Investigators say they believe they know the identity of the attacker, and that he is thought to have acted alone but was “inspired by international terrorism”.
The House of Commons will sit this morning, with prime minister Theresa May saying the country would not be cowed:
Parliament will meet as normal. We will come together as normal.
And Londoners – and others from around the world who have come here to visit this great city – will get up and go about their day as normal.
They will board their trains, they will leave their hotels, they will walk these streets, they will live their lives. And we will all move forward together. Never giving in to terror. And never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, echoed her comments, saying:
London is the greatest city in the world and we stand together in the face of those who seek to harm us and destroy our way of life.
UK foreign minister Boris Johnson, who is in the US for an international meeting discussing the Isis threat, said:
Heartbreaking. This is not the first attack on London or our Parliament - and won’t be the last - but our values will prevail.
The terror threat level for the UK remains unchanged, at “severe”. The Metropolitan police said extra patrols, armed and unarmed, would be in place, “particularly in crowded places and iconic locations”.
The Queen has postponed a planned visit to Scotland Yard that was due to take place today.
Roads around Parliament Square remain closed, as does Westminster Bridge, as police investigations continue.
Overnight, a police raid took place in the southwest of Birmingham. It is not clear if it is connected to the attack in London.
