May: It’s time to say enough is enough
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BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday called for a stronger response to Islamist extremism after three attackers drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed others nearby, killing seven people and injuring 48 others.
London’s Metropolitan Police arrested 12 people in the Barking district of east London in connection with the attack and raids were continuing there, the force said.
The attack occurred five days before a parliamentary election and was the third to hit Britain in less than three months. May said the vote would go ahead as planned on Thursday.
“It is time to say enough is enough,” the Conservative leader said in a televised statement outside her Downing Street office, where flags flew at half-mast.
“We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are,” May said, calling for a beefed-up counter-terrorism strategy that could include longer jail sentences for some offenses and new cyber space regulations.
Less than two weeks ago, a suicide bomber killed 22 children and adults at a concert by US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England. In March, in an attack similar to Saturday’s, five people died after a man drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in central London and stabbed a policeman.
On Saturday night, police shot dead the three male assailants in the Borough Market area near London Bridge within eight minutes of receiving the first emergency call shortly after 10pm.
Eyewitnesses described harrowing scenes as the attackers’ white van veered on and off the bridge sidewalk, hitting people along the way, and the three men then ran into an area packed with bars and restaurants, stabbing people indiscriminately.
Accounts emerged of people trying to barricade themselves in a pub while others tried throwing tables and other objects to fend off the attackers.
England’s health authority said yesterday afternoon that 36 of those injured remained in hospital, of whom 21 were in a critical condition.
At an apartment block in Barking, a resident told Sky News that he heard controlled explosions early yesterday morning as police gained access to the building. Four women were later seen being removed from the building, shielding their faces as they stepped into police vans.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Islamic State, losing territory in Syria and Iraq to an advance backed by a US-led coalition, had sent out a call on instant messaging service Telegram early on Saturday urging its followers to carry out attacks with trucks, knives and guns against “Crusaders” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Islamist militants have carried out scores of deadly attacks in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the United States over the past two years.
“We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face as terrorism breeds terrorism,” May said.
“Perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots ... and not even as lone attackers radicalized online, but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack.”
She said the series of attacks were not connected in terms of planning and execution, but were inspired by what she called a “single, evil ideology of Islamist extremism” that represented a perversion of Islam and of the truth.
“While we have made significant progress in recent years, there is — to be frank — far too much tolerance of extremism in our country,” she said.
She urged Britons to be more robust in stamping it out in the public sector and in wider society.
Most of the main political parties suspended election campaigning yesterday, but May said this would resume today. The UK Independence Party said it would not suspend its campaign because disrupting democracy was what the extremists wanted.
London Bridge is a major transport hub and nearby Borough Market is a fashionable warren of alleyways leavened with bars and restaurants that is always bustling on a Saturday night.
The area remained cordoned off and patrolled by armed police and counter-terrorism officers yesterday, with train stations closed. Forensic investigators could be seen working on the bridge, where buses and taxis stood abandoned.
The three attackers on Saturday night were wearing what looked like explosive vests that were later found to have been fake. May said the assailants’ aim had been to sow panic. The BBC showed a photograph of two possible attackers shot by police, one of whom had canisters strapped to his body.
The London Ambulance Service said 48 people had been taken to five hospitals across the capital and a number of others had been treated at the scene for minor injuries. Police said some of those in hospital had life-threatening injuries.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the official threat level in Britain remained at severe, meaning a militant attack is highly likely. It was raised to critical after the Manchester attack, then lowered again days later.
“One of the things we can do is to show that we aren’t going to be cowed is by voting on Thursday and making sure that we understand the importance of our democracy, our civil liberties and our human rights,” Khan said.
Roy Smith, a police officer at the scene during the unfolding emergency, expressed his shock on Twitter. “Started shift taking photos with children playing on the South Bank. Ended it giving CPR to innocent victims attacked at London Bridge,” he wrote, adding a broken heart emoji.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin were among those who sent messages of condolences and made statements of solidarity.
Four French nationals were among the injured, French officials said. Australia said one of its citizens was in hospital.
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