British prime minister Theresa May has promised tougher action against Islamist extremism in response to Saturday's attack in London, which killed seven people and injured 48. Speaking outside Downing Street after a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, she declared that "enough is enough".
The prime minister said that, although there was no connection between Saturday’s attack and the suicide bombing at Manchester Arena two weeks ago, Britain was facing a new wave of low-tech, copycat attacks.
“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,” she said. “We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are.”
She called for more action to combat extremist ideology, singling out the responsibility of big companies to shut down safe spaces for extremists on the internet.
“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,” she said.
Asserting that there was “far too much tolerance” for extremism in British society, the prime minister called for more robust action in identifying it and stamping it out across the public sector and across society. She promised to review Britain’s counter-terrorism strategy to make sure the police and security services have the powers they need and to consider increasing the length of custodial sentences for terrorism-related offences.
Overtly political statement
The prime minister was speaking shortly after all Britain's main political parties agreed to suspend campaigning in the general election in response to Saturday's attack. Labour's shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry accused Ms May of insensitivity in making an overtly political statement outside Downing Street.
“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 a 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 said.
“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.”
Police said that three attackers who killed seven people in an eight-minute rampage near London Bridge had been shot dead by armed officers, who fired 50 bullets. Thousands of people fled from the scene as armed police moved in, while others barricaded themselves inside bars and restaurants to avoid the knife-wielding assailants.
Accidentally shot
Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said a member of the public who was accidentally shot by police was in hospital in a noncritical condition.
“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,” he said. “They had already attacked and killed members of the public and had to be stopped immediately.”
<a class="search" href='javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:"7.1213540", $action:"view", $target:"work"})' polopoly:contentid="7.1213540" polopoly:searchtag="tag_person">Simon Milner</a> of <a class="search" href='javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:"7.1213540", $action:"view", $target:"work"})' polopoly:contentid="7.1213540" polopoly:searchtag="tag_company">Facebook</a>, said that the company is aware of its responsibility to avoid facilitating extremists
Police arrested 12 people on Sunday in the east London district of Barking following a raid on a flat occupied by one of the attackers. According to neighbours, the dead attacker lived there for about three years and was married with two children.
Simon Milner, director of policy at Facebook, said in a statement on Sunday that the company is aware of its responsibility to avoid facilitating extremists.
“We want Facebook to be a hostile environment for terrorists. Using a combination of technology and human review, we work aggressively to remove terrorist content from our platform as soon as we become aware of it – and if we become aware of an emergency involving imminent harm to someone’s safety, we notify law enforcement,” he said.
As with the Manchester attack two weeks ago, there were numerous stories in London of people helping one another on Saturday night with free taxi rides and offers of accommodation. Britain will observe a minute’s silence at 11am on Tuesday, and flags will remain at half-mast on government buildings. There will be a vigil near London City Hall on Tuesday evening to remember those who were killed or injured in the attack.
