22/03/2017

:00:00. > :00:11.ushered away to safety. Once the gunshots were heard. You're watching

:00:12. > :00:16.a BBC News special. Reports of a shooting outside the Palace of

:00:17. > :00:20.Westminster. Outside the House of Commons. A policeman has been

:00:21. > :00:26.stabbed and his apparent attacker shot by police officers in what is

:00:27. > :00:30.developing into a major security incident outside the Houses of

:00:31. > :00:36.Parliament. These are live pictures of Westminster Bridge where

:00:37. > :00:39.eyewitnesses say a car in the words of eyewitnesses "Mowed down several

:00:40. > :00:45.people." Some reports suggesting as many as 12 people injured after a

:00:46. > :00:50.car hit them and then was driven into the railings of the Palace of

:00:51. > :00:54.Westminster. Many people being treated at the scene as you can see

:00:55. > :01:01.from these pictures on Westminster Bridge. Confirmation in the last few

:01:02. > :01:05.minutes that the Prime Minister, Theresa May, is safe after the

:01:06. > :01:10.assailant was shot outside Parliament. She was seen getting

:01:11. > :01:17.into a silver Jaguar car as the incident was developing outside. And

:01:18. > :01:24.police and ambulances rushing to the scene. A scene called by the

:01:25. > :01:31.Metropolitan Police at 2.40pm London time. Well, a short time ago, Simon

:01:32. > :01:35.spoke to the Polish politician and journalist. He was on the scene when

:01:36. > :01:42.the shooting happened and he gave us an eyewitness account of what he

:01:43. > :01:53.saw. We have gathered today is a commitment to bringing down a global

:01:54. > :01:56.force of evil. The Prime Minister is avenue after

:01:57. > :02:02.that assailant was shot outside Parliament. Armed police called to

:02:03. > :02:06.the scene and shot him after he stabbed at least one officer. We are

:02:07. > :02:13.hearing reports that several people are lying injured on the ground

:02:14. > :02:20.inside the grounds of the Palace of Westminster. We spoke earlier to the

:02:21. > :02:24.journalist for The Daily Mail newspaper, Quentin Letts whose

:02:25. > :02:28.office overlooks the scene where the man was apparently shot by the

:02:29. > :02:31.police. He told us that the man had something in his hand, it looked

:02:32. > :02:36.like a stick of some sort and that he was challenged by a couple of

:02:37. > :02:40.policemen. One of the policemen fell down. And they could see the man in

:02:41. > :02:45.black moving his arm in a way that suggested he was either stabbing or

:02:46. > :02:49.striking the policemen and then one of them ran to get some help. The

:02:50. > :02:56.attacker ran towards the entrance used by MPs into the House of

:02:57. > :03:03.Commons. And as he was running, Quentin Letts thinks about 15 yards

:03:04. > :03:06.or so, two plain clothed policemen with guns shouted at him what

:03:07. > :03:10.sounded like a warning and he ignored it and they shot two or

:03:11. > :03:15.three times and he fell. That was an account given to us earlier by the

:03:16. > :03:18.journalist for The Daily Mail newspaper, Quentin Letts. Let's talk

:03:19. > :03:24.to Richard who was visiting the Houses of Parliament. What did you

:03:25. > :03:28.see? I came on the Westminster underground and it was clear

:03:29. > :03:32.something dramatic had happened. I was ushered on to the bridge,

:03:33. > :03:37.Westminster Bridge, where I saw looking up and down the length of

:03:38. > :03:42.the whole bridge, at least eight figures lying on the ground on the

:03:43. > :03:48.west pavement of the bridge and it appears that a car mounted the

:03:49. > :03:52.pavement on the south side of the bridge and deliberately struck into

:03:53. > :04:00.numerous individuals leaving them on the ground before crashing in at the

:04:01. > :04:06.north end of the bridge. So, a significant number of people clearly

:04:07. > :04:11.injured and shocked and obviously the emergency services came very

:04:12. > :04:14.quickly to the scene including clearly people from special forces,

:04:15. > :04:19.masked people with machine guns everywhere. So, a very serious, what

:04:20. > :04:24.appears to be a terrorist incident. Richard, is there any way, did you

:04:25. > :04:28.see any link between that incident on Westminster Bridge and what

:04:29. > :04:32.clearly has happened afterwards is an incident within the confines of

:04:33. > :04:37.the Palace of Westminster? I think one has to assume it is linked.

:04:38. > :04:40.That's not a coincidence, but a car mounts a pavement and knocks at

:04:41. > :04:44.least six, I couldn'ted probably eight, possibly ten people lying on

:04:45. > :04:47.the ground and then you've got something terrible happening within

:04:48. > :04:55.the Commons. Yes, it must all be linked. A number of people unknown,

:04:56. > :05:01.but a very serious incident on the bridge as you can imagine which is

:05:02. > :05:04.completely locked down and buses trapped on the bridge and paramedics

:05:05. > :05:07.looking after the injured up and down the length of the bridge. We

:05:08. > :05:13.are just looking at shots of that car in fact. It looks to be some

:05:14. > :05:17.sort of SUV. You didn't see who was driving it? What happened to them? I

:05:18. > :05:23.came out after that. I didn't see that. Again a number of stretchers.

:05:24. > :05:29.A number of ambulance crews on the scene. You reckon you saw a number

:05:30. > :05:34.of people seriously injured? I saw at least eight people lying on the

:05:35. > :05:42.ground on the west pavement of the bridge, literally from the southern

:05:43. > :05:48.end of it up to the other end. This is no accident. This is a very

:05:49. > :05:53.deliberate desperate tragic event. This happened less than an hour ago.

:05:54. > :05:57.It does seem remarkable how many police and how many security

:05:58. > :06:02.personnel have got to the scene and how quickly it seems to have been

:06:03. > :06:06.contained? Yes. That's right. I mean within, I don't know how many

:06:07. > :06:14.minutes it happened before I came out of the Tube, but the quantity of

:06:15. > :06:18.emergency personnel arriving was very dramatic and very significant

:06:19. > :06:25.and in a way great credit to all the people involved. Richard, thank you

:06:26. > :06:28.very much for joining us. That's an eyewitness there describing the

:06:29. > :06:32.chaotic scenes. The picture that seems to be emerging is of a car

:06:33. > :06:36.ploughing into a number of people on Westminster Bridge and then the

:06:37. > :06:42.situation within the Palace of Westminster developing from there.

:06:43. > :06:45.Let's go back to Carole Walker who has been following the developments

:06:46. > :06:49.closely. Bring us up-to-date with what we know? Well, the picture

:06:50. > :06:54.that's emerging is of two incidents which appear to have taken place

:06:55. > :07:01.pretty much simultaneously. As you were hearing there from Richard,

:07:02. > :07:06.talking about the car on Westminster Bridge which ploughed into a number

:07:07. > :07:11.of people. Westminster Bridge is always busy with people working in

:07:12. > :07:17.the area, but also large numbers of tourists. Richard described seeing

:07:18. > :07:21.eight, at least, perhaps as many as ten people on the ground and

:07:22. > :07:24.certainly we heard earlier from other eyewitnesses talking about a

:07:25. > :07:29.number of people lying on the ground. It's not clear at this stage

:07:30. > :07:34.how badly any of those casualties have been injured, but a number of

:07:35. > :07:39.people hit by that car which then ended up ploughing into the side of

:07:40. > :07:47.the fencing which surrounds the Palace of Westminster. At around the

:07:48. > :07:53.same time it appears that what was described by Quentin Letts of the

:07:54. > :07:58.Mail as a thick set man in black inside old palace yard. That's the

:07:59. > :08:02.area where MPs, ministers, and indeed, the Prime Minister are

:08:03. > :08:06.driven into Parliament. It is usually very heavily guarded. There

:08:07. > :08:10.are a lot of security checks. There are security barriers all the way

:08:11. > :08:15.around it. But it appears that he got into old palace yard. Was

:08:16. > :08:21.confronted by two police officers in high vis jackets. One of those was

:08:22. > :08:24.stabbed. We've had confirmation from the Leader of the Commons, David

:08:25. > :08:31.Lidington, that one police officer has been stabbed and that that

:08:32. > :08:33.assailant has been shot. We heard again from eyewitnesses describing

:08:34. > :08:40.how there were plain clothed officers on the scene very quickly

:08:41. > :08:44.indeed and there are always a number of armed police around Westminster.

:08:45. > :08:49.It appears that they shouted a warning and that the assailant was

:08:50. > :08:53.then shot. We know that an air ambulance has been summoned to the

:08:54. > :08:57.scene. There is a major police operation now under way. Indeed, all

:08:58. > :09:04.the streets around Westminster have now been cleared. It is eerily quiet

:09:05. > :09:08.outside that security cordon because a number of streets all around

:09:09. > :09:14.Westminster have been cleared, although there are, of course, still

:09:15. > :09:17.vehicles inside that cordon who were trapped there when these incidents

:09:18. > :09:23.unfolded. Still at an early stage. Still no clear word on the number of

:09:24. > :09:28.casualties or how seriously injured anyone has been. But both chambers

:09:29. > :09:35.of Parliament have been suspended. The whole area is in lockdown. MPs

:09:36. > :09:39.and a number of others who were visiting the Commons were all

:09:40. > :09:41.brought together into the Central Lobby of the Houses of

:09:42. > :09:47.Parliamentment many of them are still being held there while police

:09:48. > :09:53.assess the risk of them leaving or any other further risks which could

:09:54. > :09:56.still be present. It is not known at the moment what happened for example

:09:57. > :10:00.to the driver of the car. It is not known if there was anyone else with

:10:01. > :10:04.the assailant who we believe was shot and has now been taken to

:10:05. > :10:09.hospital. That is the picture that we have at the moment. Clearly, all

:10:10. > :10:11.of this has just unfolded in the last hour and more information is

:10:12. > :10:22.coming in moment by moment. More information coming in, and a

:10:23. > :10:25.colleague of hours has just sent this information, crowds have been

:10:26. > :10:31.moved out of Parliament Square and a policeman says there is a suspect

:10:32. > :10:35.vehicle outside Parliament and the colleague can see a grey saloon car

:10:36. > :10:38.surrounded by police vehicles. We don't know if this is going to

:10:39. > :10:46.amount to anything but it shows the level of tension that there is in

:10:47. > :10:51.the area right now. We have been speaking to a number of

:10:52. > :10:58.eyewitnesses. Both incidents seem very likely to be linked, of course.

:10:59. > :11:01.The number of pedestrians mown down in the words of eyewitnesses by the

:11:02. > :11:14.Waco which has ended up in the ratings at the side of the Palace of

:11:15. > :11:21.the incidents have not been linked to visually, but it would seem that

:11:22. > :11:27.with the timescale that we have had described to us, the car went into

:11:28. > :11:34.the railings and then someone ran into the Palace Yard, and now we can

:11:35. > :11:39.go to our correspondent at Westminster -- have not been linked

:11:40. > :11:43.officially. You have probably just seen another police car going

:11:44. > :11:48.straight past me and I'm 200 metres away from the Palace of Westminster

:11:49. > :11:51.and the rows between where I am now and the Palace are completely closed

:11:52. > :11:57.off and there are police lines everywhere and I've seen a number of

:11:58. > :12:02.police vehicles rushing past. You can see the situation, this is the

:12:03. > :12:06.police called in, there are journalists trying to film and

:12:07. > :12:10.trying to see as much as possible, but there is everyone else trying to

:12:11. > :12:15.go about their day and nobody is being allowed anywhere near the

:12:16. > :12:25.Palace of Westminster. More police going past me now. The traffic is

:12:26. > :12:28.stacking up. This is the scene. People are trying to get down the

:12:29. > :12:36.road. Many journalists on their phones. What we know officially,

:12:37. > :12:40.there was a firearms incident on Westminster Bridge Road, that is a

:12:41. > :12:43.very busy road between Portcullis House which is where many MPs have

:12:44. > :12:51.their offices, and the actual Palace itself. There was a firearms

:12:52. > :12:53.incident at about 240 this afternoon, and Downing Street are

:12:54. > :13:00.saying that the Prime Minister is safe. They won't comment on whether

:13:01. > :13:03.it she has been evacuated. I've spoken to an MP inside the House of

:13:04. > :13:06.Commons and they have said there are a number of MPs who are locked

:13:07. > :13:12.inside the chamber because the whole of Parliament has gone into

:13:13. > :13:18.lockdown. There are MPs locked inside the chamber and those on the

:13:19. > :13:24.outside in Central Lobby where many MPs will be waiting to find out what

:13:25. > :13:26.is going on. The Metropolitan Police have been on Twitter and they are

:13:27. > :13:29.thanking the public for their assistance and they are urging

:13:30. > :13:36.people to be calm and to remain vigilant and aware. They are telling

:13:37. > :13:39.people to avoid Parliament Square, Whitehall and Westminster and

:13:40. > :13:44.Lambeth Bridge and they are treating this as a terrorist incident. They

:13:45. > :13:49.are saying they are treating it like a terrorist incident until they know

:13:50. > :13:54.otherwise. We can go to the deputy political editor of the Huffington

:13:55. > :13:59.Post, what have you seen and heard? I heard a noise which I thought was

:14:00. > :14:02.an explosion. Where the journalists sit in Parliament, it overlooks

:14:03. > :14:08.Parliament Square and we are used to hearing many noises, like protests

:14:09. > :14:12.outside, so you don't automatically think it is an incident, but we

:14:13. > :14:15.heard this explosion and we looked up and then we heard the gunshots

:14:16. > :14:24.and that is when we rant to the windows. Overlooking the yard I saw

:14:25. > :14:29.one person, I saw the public fleeing across from the tube station"

:14:30. > :14:33.running past, and then a couple of people tried to run into the yard

:14:34. > :14:40.itself -- chip station end. That might have been a member of

:14:41. > :14:45.staff, trying to get into safety. I saw a policeman wrestling them to

:14:46. > :14:49.the ground. The police told us to stay where we work but we could see

:14:50. > :14:57.the emergency services and the armed police -- where we were. I've been

:14:58. > :15:04.told to come away from the window. That is basically what I could see.

:15:05. > :15:10.The security around Westminster has been very tight in recent years. But

:15:11. > :15:15.not as much in the precincts as it is to actually get into the Palace.

:15:16. > :15:20.Yes, but we have constant reminders that this is a high risk security

:15:21. > :15:28.target and this is a place at risk but even so when this happens it is

:15:29. > :15:31.a surprise. The police and emergency services let into action very

:15:32. > :15:35.quickly and we see them all the time with guns, patrolling the corridors,

:15:36. > :15:41.they are very hot on security, checking the past. They are always

:15:42. > :15:45.remind you to look at anyone who is acting suspicious. When you are

:15:46. > :15:50.inside you feel safe, but you are instructed the quite vigilant and

:15:51. > :15:55.most people are. Even though it feel safe there is the presence all the

:15:56. > :16:00.time here. We are looking at pictures right now of people clearly

:16:01. > :16:07.running away from the scene. Being told by police to move away from the

:16:08. > :16:16.Palace of Westminster. It is presently in lockdown as we had. --

:16:17. > :16:20.heard. I can see lots of police and sniffer dogs, going around, looking

:16:21. > :16:26.for exposing devices, I would imagine, but it is safe to say that

:16:27. > :16:29.people are trying to get information, that is our instinct as

:16:30. > :16:35.a journalist, but everyone is pretty shocked. Everyone is trying to get

:16:36. > :16:42.back to the job as quickly as they can. Thanks for joining us. We are

:16:43. > :16:49.looking at Twitter from and St Thomas 's Hospital, which is on the

:16:50. > :16:53.other side of the river from this incident and they say staff and

:16:54. > :17:00.visitors are being advised to remain on site during the current security

:17:01. > :17:13.incident -- from St Thomas 's Hospital. If you are just joining

:17:14. > :17:16.us, and incident -- an incident at 240 this afternoon, reports that a

:17:17. > :17:21.car collided with a number of people on Westminster Bridge in that car

:17:22. > :17:27.went into the fencing at the side of the Palace of Westminster -- and

:17:28. > :17:33.black car. A man then ran into the Palace of Westminster where it is

:17:34. > :17:37.reported he was wielding a knife and attacked a police officer and then

:17:38. > :17:49.the attacker himself was then shot by armed police and so a police

:17:50. > :17:55.officer stabbed. The MPs were told in the House of Commons that the

:17:56. > :18:07.building was in lockdown. We can speak to the

:18:08. > :18:20.MP Grant Shapps. Many of the MPs are in Portcullis House, which is

:18:21. > :18:42.where... In a I heard a commotion, and I heard

:18:43. > :18:46.guns and the police were pointing towards the gates direction and then

:18:47. > :18:55.I herb-4-macro shots. In quick succession. -- and then I heard four

:18:56. > :19:05.quick shots. That was the moment when the assailants were shot and

:19:06. > :19:13.then immediately there was a police officer, very quickly, saying, get

:19:14. > :19:21.down, get down. Gait, get back. -- get back. We make our way back

:19:22. > :19:26.inside to the high walls of the Palace, and then into the chamber.

:19:27. > :19:37.That is the chain of events as I saw it. Grant Shapps, thanks. We can go

:19:38. > :19:41.over to our colleague, political correspondent and presenter of The

:19:42. > :19:45.Daily Politics, who is presently in the Central Lobby in the central

:19:46. > :19:52.meeting area of the Palace of Westminster. What did you see and

:19:53. > :19:59.what did you hear? IM in Central Lobby but when the shots were fired

:20:00. > :20:03.I was in Portcullis House -- I'm in. That is the more modern part of

:20:04. > :20:09.Westminster. I had left with to go back towards Central Lobby and to

:20:10. > :20:16.the House of Commons, when we heard the gunshots and I did not realise

:20:17. > :20:21.what they were immediately. When we saw dozens of armed police officers

:20:22. > :20:26.rushing past us to get to the area outside Westminster Hall which is

:20:27. > :20:29.the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster we knew there had been a

:20:30. > :20:36.series incident and at that point we were rushed in with many other

:20:37. > :20:38.people, visitors and parliamentarians and parliamentary

:20:39. > :20:43.staff and told to go inside as quickly as possible, which we did.

:20:44. > :20:46.Who we are between House of Lords and the House of Commons with at

:20:47. > :20:53.least a few hundred other people, young, old, schoolchildren, MPs,

:20:54. > :20:59.peers, visitors and we have been here for the best part of 45

:21:00. > :21:03.minutes, maybe an hour. There is a lot of tension and we were all

:21:04. > :21:08.worried. We did not know what had happened. Listening to some of the

:21:09. > :21:13.programmes and piecing together what people had told us, we now

:21:14. > :21:16.understand why those shots were fired, that there was a stabbing and

:21:17. > :21:25.that there was a serious security risk. Are you presently locked into

:21:26. > :21:31.that building? There has been a lockdown ever since I arrived and

:21:32. > :21:34.suspended in terms of any Parliamentary business in the House

:21:35. > :21:42.of Lords and the House of Commons, and MPs who were inside the chamber

:21:43. > :21:48.were told to remain there. All the officials outside both chambers were

:21:49. > :21:52.stopping people from going anywhere, so there was a total lockdown, armed

:21:53. > :21:56.police everywhere in order to protect us and to make sure that no

:21:57. > :22:03.one was able to get into the main part of the building and that we

:22:04. > :22:07.couldn't leave. At the moment, and I've just seen David Blunkett, just

:22:08. > :22:12.walk past, small numbers of people are now being moved to other parts

:22:13. > :22:17.of the building because you get quite squashed in here, there are

:22:18. > :22:21.many people and it is very hot. Some of the older members and visitors

:22:22. > :22:25.are sitting down on the benches provided while we wait to hear

:22:26. > :22:32.exactly what is going to happen next and when it will happen. But yes,

:22:33. > :22:41.lockdown and suspension. Jo Coburn, thanks. To bring you more

:22:42. > :22:46.information from the metabolic to bottom place, they are asking you to

:22:47. > :22:53.-- we are hearing from the Metropolitan Police and they have

:22:54. > :24:53.asked for a number of incidents to be

:24:54. > :25:01.end of my being an eyewitness. Quentin Letts, the Daily Mail's

:25:02. > :25:09.political sketch writer, could see the area from his office. I work in

:25:10. > :25:19.an office which overlooks new Palace Yard and I have -- I heard a sound

:25:20. > :25:26.which sounded like a car crash. Lots of members of the public were

:25:27. > :25:33.running down the pavement. We saw a man in black clothes coming through

:25:34. > :25:39.the gates where people would normally drive cars into New Palace

:25:40. > :25:43.Yard, which is just below Big Ben. This man had something which looked

:25:44. > :25:48.like a stick of some sort in his hand. He was challenged by a couple

:25:49. > :25:54.of policeman in yellow jackets, one of the policeman in yellow jackets

:25:55. > :25:59.fell down and we could see the man in black moving his arm in a way

:26:00. > :26:06.that suggested he was stabbing or striking the policeman in the yellow

:26:07. > :26:12.jacket. One of the policeman ran to get help, which was very, very quick

:26:13. > :26:14.to come. As this attacker was running towards the entrance used

:26:15. > :26:22.entrance used by MPs to go into the House of Commons, as he was running,

:26:23. > :26:31.he ran about, I would say 15 yards, two plainclothes guys with guns

:26:32. > :26:37.shouted at him, a warning, he ignored it, and they shot 2-3 times

:26:38. > :26:46.and he fell. And that is what we saw. Your account has just been

:26:47. > :26:51.corroborated by the Commons leader who has told MPs that a police

:26:52. > :26:55.officer has been stabbed and the alleged assailant was shot by armed

:26:56. > :26:59.police, following what he called a series incident within the

:27:00. > :27:05.Parliamentary estate. That would seem to tally with what you have

:27:06. > :27:11.just ascribed. Yes. The ambulances have now arrived and the helicopter

:27:12. > :27:16.and ambience is have arrived. There is work being done -- the ambulances

:27:17. > :27:25.have arrived. Especially on someone, which I think is the policeman.

:27:26. > :27:33.This is when police first arrived on the scene after the incident had

:27:34. > :27:40.been reported. You can see on the road in front of the palace, a man

:27:41. > :27:46.being attended to by police. This is the scene live now, the area is

:27:47. > :27:50.still in lockdown. Our colleague, presenter and former political

:27:51. > :27:58.editor, is in Westminster, what are you hearing. I'm about 200 yards on

:27:59. > :28:01.Big Ben, overlooking Westminster Bridge and I arrived just after the

:28:02. > :28:07.incident, and when I did so I bumped into a group of extremely

:28:08. > :28:10.traumatised French teenagers who were here on a trip for a week and

:28:11. > :28:15.one of them described to me what had happened on the bridge. How he saw a

:28:16. > :28:20.car drive into what he thought were 2-3 of the people with him. Many

:28:21. > :28:26.people were too upset and crying too much to talk and son were in shock.

:28:27. > :28:29.I passed one person lying on the pavement covered in one of those

:28:30. > :28:36.metallic blankets that you see after the marathon, to warm someone up.

:28:37. > :28:40.And do with the shock. He described not just seeing a car drive into

:28:41. > :28:45.some of the party of French schoolchildren, he also described

:28:46. > :28:52.some stabbing two people, he thought he had seen, and I can't corroborate

:28:53. > :28:56.these details, and also the sound of shots and the police dealt with the

:28:57. > :29:00.attackers. He did not see the attackers and could not describe

:29:01. > :29:06.them, but there was a coachload of French young people who were deeply

:29:07. > :29:11.traumatised and upset and concerned for the health and safety and

:29:12. > :29:18.well-being of those they had come with. We are aware of one person

:29:19. > :29:23.apparently bursting into the Palace Yard and being shot by armed police.

:29:24. > :29:28.Is there a suggestion that there might still be someone else who they

:29:29. > :29:35.are looking for? Let me stress, I arrived after the scene, I heard

:29:36. > :29:39.some details, but I can only describe what I've been told, the

:29:40. > :29:47.Zhang people were on Westminster Bridge, -- these young people were

:29:48. > :29:53.on Westminster Bridge, and they were traumatised by what they had seen

:29:54. > :29:59.and they described an attack on the bridge, in other words not the

:30:00. > :30:04.incident in the Palace Yard, behind the fenced off area, but an incident

:30:05. > :30:11.which happened on the bridge in which a car was driven, we assumed a

:30:12. > :30:21.liberally, given into people on the bridge -- we assume deliberately,

:30:22. > :30:30.driven into people on the bridge. Journalists are there and they have

:30:31. > :30:35.all been pushed back. It is curiously frozen in time. Normally

:30:36. > :30:47.one of the busiest bridges in London. We have the sound of the

:30:48. > :30:50.police helicopter overhead and the sound of the police siren is in the

:30:51. > :31:05.background. The site of many flashing blue lights.

:31:06. > :31:13.We are talking in nature two very different crime scenes, a public

:31:14. > :31:16.bridge used by French students, and the incident within the confines of

:31:17. > :31:20.the Palace of Westminster, one of the most closely guarded buildings

:31:21. > :31:24.in this country. Indeed. Both are serious in their own way, and let me

:31:25. > :31:30.stress, I've just arrived and I can't, corroborate things and as is

:31:31. > :31:33.the way with incidents like this, some of what I'd tell you will turn

:31:34. > :31:39.out to be accurate and inevitably some bits will be corrected late in

:31:40. > :31:43.time. But it looks as though there has been an incident on Westminster

:31:44. > :31:46.Bridge, rather like what we heard about in Germany with the lorry

:31:47. > :31:51.being driven into people and rather like we have heard in other cities,

:31:52. > :31:56.as if the vehicle has been used as a weapon, deliberately targeting

:31:57. > :32:01.people. Just stress, that has to be confirmed, and I can't see evidence

:32:02. > :32:04.that from here. But a young man, barely able to compose himself, and

:32:05. > :32:11.those who were within, that is what they described to me. -- with him.

:32:12. > :32:14.That would be serious enough in itself in this capital city,

:32:15. > :32:16.although not a huge surprise for people who have seen what has

:32:17. > :32:21.happened in other cities, but what will surprise is that someone

:32:22. > :32:25.managed to get through Westminster's enhanced security system carrying

:32:26. > :32:29.any sort of weapon. Any visitor, people who go to that building as a

:32:30. > :32:33.tourist or to see their member parliament, it goes to a airport

:32:34. > :32:37.style security, one of those arches, to check for weapons, new might

:32:38. > :32:42.indeed have a body search, as well. Pass holders, members of Parliament,

:32:43. > :32:47.they do not need that kind of security check, and one of the first

:32:48. > :32:50.questions that will be asked after this immediate crisis has been dealt

:32:51. > :32:58.with, how did these individual make it through? Did he get through the

:32:59. > :33:02.security system or was he able to bypass it by using a pass? When we

:33:03. > :33:05.have our security incidents in the past in the Palace of Westminster,

:33:06. > :33:09.much less serious, but you remember Tony Blair was hit by someone

:33:10. > :33:14.throwing purple powder from a gallery at the House of Commons, and

:33:15. > :33:18.in those cases it is almost always turned out that they had access to a

:33:19. > :33:25.security pass, by lying about who they were and what they were up to.

:33:26. > :33:28.Those questions are for another day, after the country comes to terms

:33:29. > :33:34.with what seems to have been an extraordinary serious terrorist

:33:35. > :33:39.attack. President Donald Trump has been briefed on this incident in the

:33:40. > :33:48.White House, we understand. We have a statement from the London

:33:49. > :33:50.Ambulance Service. The deputy director of operations says they

:33:51. > :33:54.were called at 240 this afternoon to Westminster Bridge to reports of an

:33:55. > :33:58.incident with the first crew arriving within six minutes and they

:33:59. > :34:03.say that a number of resources have been sent to the scene including

:34:04. > :34:06.ambulance crews and London's air ambulance and the hazardous area

:34:07. > :34:09.response team and by working closely with other emergency services at the

:34:10. > :34:14.scene and they have declared a major incident. They say as they are very

:34:15. > :34:20.busy dealing with this incident, they would ask the public to only

:34:21. > :34:26.call in a genuine emergency. We can go to our home affairs correspondent

:34:27. > :34:32.who is near Westminster Bridge. What can you tell us? I'm as close as you

:34:33. > :34:39.can get to Westminster Bridge on the embankment or stop effectively

:34:40. > :34:44.overlooking the old county all. -- County Hall. The police line has

:34:45. > :34:53.been pushed back a few metres and there are armed offices in front of

:34:54. > :35:00.me. We have spoken to someone who was fairly close and he was fairly

:35:01. > :35:08.shaken up by what he saw and he said he heard a lot of commotion and saw

:35:09. > :35:13.a man running and then he heard shots, and in fairness to the young

:35:14. > :35:20.man he was in a bit of shock. Some people don't know what is going on.

:35:21. > :35:24.We saw a young lady having some sort of seizure which was unrelated to

:35:25. > :35:27.what is going on on the bridge but it was clear that it was a kind of

:35:28. > :35:33.panic attack, so clearly people are concerned. Everything is calm on

:35:34. > :35:40.this side and the police have effectively taken control of this

:35:41. > :35:45.area and they have created a cordon, from the Palace down, so I'm looking

:35:46. > :35:50.back towards Portcullis House and the Palace and there is effectively

:35:51. > :35:57.a sterile zone and at the top we can see unmarked police cars and the

:35:58. > :36:02.other cars which have arrived, and that would indicate that they feel

:36:03. > :36:05.they have a degree of control over the environment and they would not

:36:06. > :36:10.send investigators in at this stage if it was effectively still alive

:36:11. > :36:17.incident, although I'm just by collating I must stress Ash I'm just

:36:18. > :36:24.speculating. We can see officers patrolling the bridge, near St

:36:25. > :36:29.Thomas as hospital, and things are looking pretty calm from our

:36:30. > :36:37.position. The Scotland Yard operations have locked down the

:36:38. > :36:41.area, and once the incident has happened they have a plan to

:36:42. > :36:46.effectively lock it down. It is very strange, the fact this has happened

:36:47. > :36:56.within view of the new Scotland Yard headquarters right here on the

:36:57. > :37:01.river. Thanks. We can go back to our political correspondent in

:37:02. > :37:04.Westminster. I'm 200 metres away from the Palace and you can see the

:37:05. > :37:09.edges of Westminster over my shoulder. We are being kept well

:37:10. > :37:14.back from the palace itself and more police are arriving as I speak.

:37:15. > :37:19.There are more police than I've ever seen down here before, such is the

:37:20. > :37:23.nature of what is going on. I can speak to someone who saw what

:37:24. > :37:30.happened. Steve. Take me through what you have seen. I was walking

:37:31. > :37:32.across the bridge when suddenly a bus stopped and everybody started

:37:33. > :37:38.screaming and people came off the bridge. They seemed very upset and

:37:39. > :37:42.then I saw a trainer by the side of the road, and then there was a body

:37:43. > :37:46.on the other side and when I looked further up there was another body.

:37:47. > :37:52.And when I looked over the side of the bridge there was a body in the

:37:53. > :37:58.water, as well. What did you do? I checked to see if people were

:37:59. > :38:01.looking out for their people on the ground and then I tried to stop

:38:02. > :38:04.people coming onto the bridge because people were still coming on

:38:05. > :38:08.and at that point we did not know what was happening so we were trying

:38:09. > :38:14.to push them back. Westminster Bridge is a way is busy with and

:38:15. > :38:20.traffic. -- always busy. The police arrived quickly? Probably 5-10

:38:21. > :38:26.minutes and when they did, they poured on. The first thing was a

:38:27. > :38:33.medic motorbike who started treating one of the casualties and then after

:38:34. > :38:39.that it was about 5- terminus and when they arrived they arrived in

:38:40. > :38:42.force. -- 5-10 minutes. At that point we were trying to get people

:38:43. > :38:51.off the bridge and stop them coming on. What time was this? I was here

:38:52. > :38:56.to see my daughter who works in London, and I came out and she is

:38:57. > :39:00.still at work. I came up, we are going to show tonight. I was walking

:39:01. > :39:05.around and having a look at Westminster and doing tourist

:39:06. > :39:10.things. There are always police in Westminster. How different has it

:39:11. > :39:16.been today? I've never seen anything like it, it is a sea of blue lights.

:39:17. > :39:19.They were very close to -- they were very quick to close off the bridge

:39:20. > :39:23.will stop they just arrived in force, and we now have helicopters

:39:24. > :39:27.overhead and all sorts of things. But it was a very confusing scene.

:39:28. > :39:35.No one really knew what was going on. We are standing behind about 200

:39:36. > :39:41.metres away from the Palace, how did you manage to get here yourself? I

:39:42. > :39:46.guess because I was wearing happened, I'm sort of moving away

:39:47. > :39:51.from it rather than trying to move towards -- because I was where it

:39:52. > :39:56.happened. I just came to the next available bridge which is Lambeth

:39:57. > :40:02.Bridge. Thank you very much for speaking to us. That was Steve who

:40:03. > :40:06.saw what happened earlier. Since I've been in this spot which is 300

:40:07. > :40:11.metres away from the Palace, close to Lambeth Bridge, there has been

:40:12. > :40:17.police car after police car going past, ambulance, fire engine, and so

:40:18. > :40:24.more police then we have ever seen in Westminster. Which is used to

:40:25. > :40:30.this kind of activity in terms of attention but nothing on this scale.

:40:31. > :40:34.We are trying to see what is going on down there, and if we can swing

:40:35. > :40:39.the camera around, we have journalists who are trying to report

:40:40. > :40:42.on fixed cameras, and on their phones, we have an ambulance and

:40:43. > :40:47.also another police car, but there have been children who have been

:40:48. > :40:48.finishing school trying to leave for the day and the traffic is building

:40:49. > :40:58.up, as well. We've got helicopters over top too.

:40:59. > :41:02.I'm going to look and see what the latest is that we know. The Prime

:41:03. > :41:07.Minister is now in Downing Street, we are told. She was brought back

:41:08. > :41:12.from the House of Commons in Westminster. She is in her office

:41:13. > :41:17.being briefed on what is going on. So, really we're just watching

:41:18. > :41:21.everything happen minute by minute here, 300 meters or so away from the

:41:22. > :41:25.House of Commons. Another police car going past. I'm going to step to the

:41:26. > :41:30.side, but yes, we know that Theresa May is now in Downing Street. The

:41:31. > :41:36.police have confirmed that there was an incident on Westminster Bridge

:41:37. > :41:40.before 3pm, about 2.40pm. We heard from the London Ambulance Service

:41:41. > :41:44.who have said that they got their first crew to that incident, that

:41:45. > :41:49.firearms incident within six minutes, they said. They got a

:41:50. > :41:53.number of resources at the scene including ambulances, the air

:41:54. > :41:57.ambulance and they're working closely with the emergency services

:41:58. > :42:01.at the scene. They say their priority is to ensure patients get

:42:02. > :42:05.the medical help they need as quickly as possible and they have

:42:06. > :42:10.declared a major incident. I've spoken to MPs who are inside

:42:11. > :42:14.Parliament. One told me that MPs have been locked inside the House of

:42:15. > :42:20.Commons, inside the chamber and they therefore, weren't allowed to get

:42:21. > :42:23.into the chamber. We know that Parliament has been suspended both

:42:24. > :42:27.in the House of Commons and the House of Lords and that Westminster

:42:28. > :42:31.is currently on loch Down, but this isn't just affecting the politicians

:42:32. > :42:36.in Westminster, this is affecting people who work in offices near

:42:37. > :42:39.here, people trying to get home after school, and obviously anyone

:42:40. > :42:44.else who is going to be coming into the centre of London and Westminster

:42:45. > :42:48.is one of the busiest spots in London in terms of tourists who are

:42:49. > :42:54.always on Westminster Bridge, taking photos of each other and we have got

:42:55. > :42:59.another series of white vans with blue lights on them coming past.

:43:00. > :43:03.They're going down Horseferry Road, it is another road that runs

:43:04. > :43:09.parallel to the Westminster estate. There is a grid of roads around

:43:10. > :43:12.Westminster and in the minutes after the incident happened, the cordon

:43:13. > :43:17.has been getting wider and wider. So we have been pushed back to Lambeth

:43:18. > :43:20.Bridge. It is the next bridge along from Westminster Bridge where we are

:43:21. > :43:24.reporting from with other camera crews here as well and onlookers and

:43:25. > :43:27.the police who are trying to keep everything under control at this

:43:28. > :43:32.site. Eleanor Garnier, thank you very much. We're hearing that

:43:33. > :43:36.proceedings in Holyrood have been suspended. The second day of the

:43:37. > :43:40.debate on the Scottish independence referendum. That debate has been

:43:41. > :43:45.halted. A suspension of work at Holyrood this afternoon.

:43:46. > :43:50.A statement put out by the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, via

:43:51. > :43:53.Twitter saying, "My thoughts are with everyone in and around

:43:54. > :43:57.Westminster caught up in this incident and the brave emergency

:43:58. > :44:01.services." A statement from Jeremy Corbyn saying that the reports

:44:02. > :44:05.suggest the incident this afternoon is extremely serious. Our thoughts,

:44:06. > :44:09.he says, are with the victims of this horrific attack, families and

:44:10. > :44:13.friends. He praises the action taken by the police and security staff. He

:44:14. > :44:17.says they've taken swift action to ensure the safety of the public of

:44:18. > :44:21.MPs and of staff and that we are grateful to them.

:44:22. > :44:26.You're watching a special report from BBC News on the attack in

:44:27. > :44:30.Westminster this afternoon. A police officer has been stabbed within the

:44:31. > :44:35.confines of the Houses of Parliament in what police are treating as a

:44:36. > :44:39.terrorist incident. The Commons leader, David Lidington, told MPs

:44:40. > :44:45.that the alleged assailant was shot by armed police. Also this following

:44:46. > :44:50.reports that as many as five people, possibly more, were mowed down on

:44:51. > :44:53.Westminster Bridge. Our colleague Nick Robinson saying a party of

:44:54. > :44:57.French schoolchildren were among those involved in that incident. A

:44:58. > :45:04.car driven into the side of the gates at the Palace of Westminster.

:45:05. > :45:08.That shortly before the terror attack on the Palace of Westminster.

:45:09. > :45:14.A man thought to be armed with a knife, attacking a police officer.

:45:15. > :45:18.He was then shot himself. Let's talk to Martin Pierce who is an

:45:19. > :45:24.eyewitness. Martin, what did you see? Well, I was down at Lambeth

:45:25. > :45:27.Bridge and all of a sudden I could hear the ambulance and police going

:45:28. > :45:32.towards that way and I was like well, something has happened so I'll

:45:33. > :45:36.go and have a look. As I was walking up to the bridge where it happened,

:45:37. > :45:40.there was a gentleman, he jumped over the side to avoid this person,

:45:41. > :45:44.but he was being looked after by like an ambulance crew and as I

:45:45. > :45:52.walked up the bridge on to the bridge where it happened, there was

:45:53. > :45:56.a lady in a pool of her own blood just against some postcards. There

:45:57. > :46:01.was another lady next to her who was injured and as I looked towards Big

:46:02. > :46:07.Ben there was a lady in the road. There was about three people sitting

:46:08. > :46:10.up against the bridge being looked after and you know, it's something

:46:11. > :46:16.you just don't expect to see in London. It's quite shocking

:46:17. > :46:19.actually. Can you describe the reaction to it by the Security

:46:20. > :46:26.Services, the police, how quickly were they there? Well, it took me

:46:27. > :46:30.five minutes to walk down from when it started and there was some police

:46:31. > :46:34.around, but as soon as, you know, as soon as there was more of them

:46:35. > :46:38.there, they got everyone back as quickly as possible, but it was just

:46:39. > :46:47.surprising how, you know, you could have just walked on to the bridge

:46:48. > :46:51.and see all that. You will forgive me for saying, you still sound quite

:46:52. > :47:01.shaky. This was just a normal day? Yes. I'm sorry. You don't expect to

:47:02. > :47:06.see that. I come down to London to see a show tonight and yeah, it's

:47:07. > :47:10.kind of shocking. You see it, I know it's bad, you see it happen abroad

:47:11. > :47:22.all the time, but you don't expect to see it in London in such a

:47:23. > :47:26.prominent position and luckily, you know, staff from St Thomas Hospital

:47:27. > :47:33.were running on to the bridge to help the injured.

:47:34. > :47:39.Let's go over to the MP, David Davis. Mr Davis, tell us where you

:47:40. > :47:43.are and what you saw. Well, we're in a safe area at the moment in the

:47:44. > :47:58.estate. I believe everyone has been moved into this area. The police are

:47:59. > :48:05.doing a fantastic job. I believe one has been badly hurt today. You,

:48:06. > :48:09.along with other MPs, who are within the Parliamentary estate, are you

:48:10. > :48:14.still locked in? Yes. We have been moved into a different area. I'm not

:48:15. > :48:18.going to say where it is, but there is a good security operation that's

:48:19. > :48:28.been put in place here. There is no panic. People know exactly what

:48:29. > :48:41.they're doing. The police are doing a brilliant job. I was in the area

:48:42. > :48:48.where the incident happened. We heard gunshots very nearby and

:48:49. > :48:53.dropped to the floor and then people ran for shelter and safety and so

:48:54. > :48:57.that's about all I do know really. You probably know more than I do

:48:58. > :49:02.because we were then told and go and lock doors and wait for the

:49:03. > :49:10.instructions which is why we are all gathered in one particular area. I

:49:11. > :49:15.suspect we will be here for quite a while now while the area gets

:49:16. > :49:18.secured. There are inevitably at times like this, conflicting reports

:49:19. > :49:25.of what happened and what continues to happen. Have you heard any

:49:26. > :49:30.suggestion that there was more than one assailant in this incident, this

:49:31. > :49:38.these two incidents? To be honest with you, all I can say, the only

:49:39. > :49:44.bit that I saw for myself, I was wacking with Grant Shapps MP. We

:49:45. > :49:48.were in New Palace Yard. We heard shouting. I thought it was a

:49:49. > :49:52.protestor, but it sounded a bit different actually. You don't really

:49:53. > :49:56.think. I looked around and the next thing there was at least one shot. I

:49:57. > :50:01.think I looked around and thought, "That can't be for real, is it?" And

:50:02. > :50:06.then more shots. I can't remember if I shouted get down or everyone got

:50:07. > :50:19.down on the floor. People started moving backwards. I waited for the

:50:20. > :50:23.shots to stop. I was behind a pillar. I took a chance and ran back

:50:24. > :50:27.towards Portcullis House. I didn't know what was going on, but somebody

:50:28. > :50:36.was in the area with a gun and I wasn't in a very good place. I'm

:50:37. > :50:41.hearing that maybe it was a police officer that fired. David Davis you

:50:42. > :50:46.still sound quite shaken by what happened. Thank you very much for

:50:47. > :50:49.sharing that with us. There are children in the House of Commons

:50:50. > :50:58.today and lots of people wouldn't have expected this. And obviously

:50:59. > :51:01.police officers, maybe one of them is fatally injured. I hope he is or

:51:02. > :51:09.she is OK. Thank you for your time. OK.

:51:10. > :51:13.From the Press Association, a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital says

:51:14. > :51:17.one woman has died and a number of others have been hurt including some

:51:18. > :51:22.with catastrophic injuries on in the incident on Westminster Bridge. This

:51:23. > :51:26.is the incident you're looking at now, following reports that a car

:51:27. > :51:29.had driven into a group. Nick Robinson saying it was a group of

:51:30. > :51:35.French schoolchildren, but according to the latest from St Thomas'

:51:36. > :51:40.Hospital, that junior doctor, one woman has died and a number of

:51:41. > :51:45.others are seriously hurt. You're watching BBC News. It is just after

:51:46. > :51:49.4.10pm in London. Let's remind you of what we know so far. A man has

:51:50. > :51:52.been shot by armed police after he stabbed a police officer inside the

:51:53. > :51:57.gates of the Houses of Parliament. Eyewitnesses say that the man drove

:51:58. > :52:02.his car across Westminster Bridge where he hit pedestrians and a

:52:03. > :52:06.number of people have been injured and as Simon mentioned there, we've

:52:07. > :52:14.had confirmation from a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital that a

:52:15. > :52:19.woman has died and several others have suffer what has been called

:52:20. > :52:24.catastrophic injury. A car swerved into the gates of the Houses of

:52:25. > :52:28.Parliament. A man got out of car and he was waving a knife. He stabbed a

:52:29. > :52:32.police officer and was then shot by armed police. That's the situation

:52:33. > :52:36.as we know it. Let's go to Eleanor Garnier who is in Westminster. Just

:52:37. > :52:42.yards from where this has happened, Eleanor. Yes, I'm about 300 meters

:52:43. > :52:46.from the Palace of Westminster. This is where the police cordon is at the

:52:47. > :52:49.moment. Just minutes after the incident happened, we were trying to

:52:50. > :52:53.see what was going on and the police were putting a cordon up and we have

:52:54. > :52:58.been pushed further and further away from Parliament. You can probably

:52:59. > :53:02.see over my shoulder, lots of flashing blue lights, since I have

:53:03. > :53:05.been here in the last 45 minutes there have been more and more police

:53:06. > :53:10.cars going past us. In the last few minutes a couple of ambulances have

:53:11. > :53:14.left the scene, blue lights flashing, sirens going and they've

:53:15. > :53:19.left the scene to take, we assume, patients away. I'm joined by

:53:20. > :53:24.somebody who saw what was going on. You are a tourist. You're visiting

:53:25. > :53:35.London. Yes. What were you doing and what did you see? I was walking

:53:36. > :53:47.through Whitehall and we heard shots from the Parliament. Before I heard

:53:48. > :53:54.two shots from the Parliament. We went to there and saw a crash by

:53:55. > :53:58.Parliament. And a person on the floor beside the car. Did you see

:53:59. > :54:06.anybody inside the car? Was it just people outside the car? No, I

:54:07. > :54:11.couldn't see anyone inside the car. Just that person and the person on

:54:12. > :54:17.the floor and without movement and without no reaction. So you heard a

:54:18. > :54:23.number of shots? Three. You heard three shots. Three shots. And then

:54:24. > :54:29.separately the car crashing into the side. And then what happened? I

:54:30. > :54:33.don't know what happened. I just saw a person, no blood. And that was a

:54:34. > :54:40.member of the public maybe. Did you get moved by the police? How did you

:54:41. > :54:46.end up where you are? The policemen came quickly and separated the

:54:47. > :54:56.public from there and we need to wait there. I saw the crash by

:54:57. > :55:01.Parliament and the person on the floor near the car and the policemen

:55:02. > :55:04.near. And how, having seen that happen, and obviously you can see

:55:05. > :55:13.the police around us and the ambulances too, how are you feeling

:55:14. > :55:14.about everything? Just something is wrong, what happened there. Just

:55:15. > :55:35.that. Thank you very much. Thank you for

:55:36. > :55:38.joining us. Simon, there are police cars going past us and there are

:55:39. > :55:42.sirens going. Westminster is always busy. It's a central place for

:55:43. > :55:46.tourists to come and take photos, but because of Parliament being

:55:47. > :55:51.here, MPs and Lords, security is always tight here, but the level of

:55:52. > :55:58.police activity is something that we have never seen before. There are

:55:59. > :56:06.helicopters overhead. Sirens every few seconds or so. We know that

:56:07. > :56:10.inside Westminster MPs are basically being told to stay where they

:56:11. > :56:13.arement we know that the chamber has been locked so nobody can leave the

:56:14. > :56:19.chamber and nobody can go into the chamber either. We've been hearing

:56:20. > :56:23.that police are doing a great job, we're told, inside Westminster. We

:56:24. > :56:28.have seen two ambulances leave the scene. They went past about five

:56:29. > :56:31.minutes ago, coming away from the palace, away from what has been

:56:32. > :56:36.going on, about 300 meters behind us. If you look over my shoulder

:56:37. > :56:41.actually, you can see police cars moving down there. Some blue lights

:56:42. > :56:46.flashing too. It all started just before 3pm this afternoon. We think

:56:47. > :56:49.around 2.40pm this afternoon when there were reports that people

:56:50. > :56:54.inside the Parliamentary estate had heard shots and a number of people

:56:55. > :56:58.told me they heard three shots being fired and separately, a car had

:56:59. > :57:02.cashed into the railings on Westminster Bridge Road and just to

:57:03. > :57:06.give you a sense of where that is in terms of where MPs are. There is

:57:07. > :57:10.Westminster Bridge Road is a really busy road and it goes in between a

:57:11. > :57:15.building called Portcullis House. That's where most MPs have their

:57:16. > :57:19.offices. So it is a really central part of the Westminster estate. So

:57:20. > :57:24.lots of MPs are based in that building. MPs can actually go from

:57:25. > :57:28.Portcullis into the Palace of Westminster underground. There is a

:57:29. > :57:33.way that they can get down underground. We use that route all

:57:34. > :57:36.the time as journalists to go from meeting MPs into the Palace of

:57:37. > :57:42.Westminster. But if you go overground so across the road, you

:57:43. > :57:46.go straight across to a place called Old Palace Yard, that's where cars

:57:47. > :57:51.go in and out of Westminster. It is always heavily policed. There are

:57:52. > :57:56.bollards in the payments there as cars try and go in and out of the

:57:57. > :58:01.area, they are checked and it is around that area that this incident

:58:02. > :58:07.happened. In between Portcullis where the MPs offices are and Old

:58:08. > :58:11.Palace Yard, so the area that's behind a big fence, it is high

:58:12. > :58:14.fences around that area, that is exactly where the ins didn't

:58:15. > :58:18.happened and the police have been pushing the cordon further and

:58:19. > :58:24.further back. We're now, as I say, 300 meters away from the palace. And

:58:25. > :58:28.close to Lambeth Bridge. That's the next bridge along from Westminster

:58:29. > :58:31.Bridge and of course, St Thomas' Hospital is on the south side of the

:58:32. > :58:33.bridge. We have heard from the London Ambulance Service that they

:58:34. > :58:40.were called to the incident and that they had a crew on site within six

:58:41. > :58:43.minutes. They are working closely with the emergency services too and

:58:44. > :58:47.they say they have declared a major incident. So, that's the situation

:58:48. > :58:50.where we are now and it's not just obviously journalists around here

:58:51. > :58:53.too, I can try and swing the camera round for you and we will be able to

:58:54. > :58:56.see some of the journalist, but also you're going to see members of the

:58:57. > :58:59.public who are also trying to find out what's going on. You've got

:59:00. > :59:05.people who stopped on their bicycles. I have seen school groups,

:59:06. > :59:07.groups of school kids who have finished for the day and they have

:59:08. > :59:12.been trying to get home and wondering what is going on too.

:59:13. > :59:18.There is a police car parked at the roundabout too and obviously the

:59:19. > :59:21.traffic has been stacking up. There are sat trucks so the broadcasters

:59:22. > :59:25.can do live reports like this one to you and let people know what is

:59:26. > :59:30.going on. We have just had a statement from Jeremy Corbyn too on

:59:31. > :59:34.what is going on. He says his thoughts are with the victims, their

:59:35. > :59:38.friends and families. He says reports suggest the ongoing incident

:59:39. > :59:43.in Westminster this afternoon is extremely serious. He says, "Our

:59:44. > :59:47.thoughts are with the victims of this horrific attack, their families

:59:48. > :59:52.and friends. The police and security staff have taken swift action to

:59:53. > :59:57.ensure the safety of the public. MPs and staff and we are grateful to

:59:58. > :00:01.them." I did speak to somebody who works for an MP straightaway, after

:00:02. > :00:07.we heard reports that had been an incident. He said he heard three

:00:08. > :00:10.shots being fired. He had seen a body on a pavement on Westminster

:00:11. > :00:17.Bridge and that's been repeated by a number of eyewitnesses. And we know

:00:18. > :00:21.that the police were called shortly after 2.40pm to what seems to be at

:00:22. > :00:27.least two incidents. So first of all, the shots being fired, but also

:00:28. > :00:31.that car crashing into the railings which cordon off Old Palace Yard.

:00:32. > :00:34.That's a really central part of Westminster. It is where the Prime

:00:35. > :00:39.Minister, when she is visiting the House of Commons, she and her car go

:00:40. > :00:42.in that route. So, that is the situation as we understand it at the

:00:43. > :00:46.moment here in Westminster. Eleanor, thank you very much.

:00:47. > :00:51.Eleanor Garnier in Westminster. I want to show you some viewers'

:00:52. > :00:56.pictures of the incident after a man had broken into Palace Yard. This

:00:57. > :01:09.shot from a balcony, a window overlooking the scene. And one

:01:10. > :01:15.person, apparently wielding a knife and then being shot by armed

:01:16. > :01:20.officers. A woman has died and others suffering what have been

:01:21. > :01:26.described as catastrophic injuries by a junior doctor at St Thomas'

:01:27. > :01:30.Hospital. A number of stretchers, we have been seeing being taken. This

:01:31. > :01:34.is at back at Palace Yard. This would appear to be one of those

:01:35. > :01:39.involved getting treatment. Let's go back to our political

:01:40. > :01:43.editor, Laura Kuenssberg who is in Westminster for us. Laura, what more

:01:44. > :01:49.can you tell us? I'm inside the Parliamentary lockdown. I have been

:01:50. > :01:53.here with several hundred people. At about 2.50pm I heard shouting at the

:01:54. > :01:56.front of Portcullis House. Policemen appeared to be bundling members of

:01:57. > :02:00.the public and some other people including myself to move back, back

:02:01. > :02:04.away from the security door. I then saw dozens of members of the public

:02:05. > :02:08.rushing along the river side. So there have been since then, several

:02:09. > :02:12.hundred people in various different parts of the Parliamentary estate

:02:13. > :02:18.which is a warren of old buildings and new buildings, but we are now in

:02:19. > :02:23.a building called Norman Shaw South. We have been moved from Portcullis

:02:24. > :02:27.House into the safest part of Parliament. We have been told to

:02:28. > :02:32.keep away from the windows and people have been told to go to their

:02:33. > :02:35.offices and stay there. I can't emphasise how much Westminster feels

:02:36. > :02:41.it is under such close guard. A dozen times a day I would walk past

:02:42. > :02:47.armed police. It is an extremely, extremely secure, probably one of

:02:48. > :02:50.the secure parts of the capital. And therefore, it is deeply shocking for

:02:51. > :02:53.people to have witnessed what they have this afternoon. I have been

:02:54. > :02:57.speaking to MPs who were on their way to vote in the Commons Chamber

:02:58. > :03:01.who told me they heard three or four gunshots and one said there was that

:03:02. > :03:08.moment, 30 seconds or so when you think is that really what I heard?

:03:09. > :03:12.And then they realised, it was and they ran. Laura, we are seeing live

:03:13. > :03:16.pictures of the exterior of the Palace of Westminster. Earlier, we

:03:17. > :03:20.were looking at pictures that we were bringing to you for the first

:03:21. > :03:28.time of the incident when it happened. And of the police

:03:29. > :03:34.surrounding a figure that was lying on the ground and that will have

:03:35. > :03:41.been the scene that you heard, that you were describing earlier. Do you

:03:42. > :03:45.get any sense that this is an ongoing situation? The incidents as

:03:46. > :03:50.reported by the authorities happened at 2.40pm. And yet, you are still in

:03:51. > :03:57.lockdown. Do you get the impression that that means anything in terms of

:03:58. > :04:01.security? There have been suggestions among some people that

:04:02. > :04:02.there maybe suspicions around a suspicious vehicle which the

:04:03. > :04:07.Security Services are still looking at. There are suggestions that

:04:08. > :04:13.Government departments have been locked down and also St Thomas'

:04:14. > :04:17.Hospital, I cannot confirm any of those reports, but one senior MP

:04:18. > :04:25.contacted me to say from their office was, they can see two bodies

:04:26. > :04:29.on the ground in Old Palace Yard. They told me a short while ago that

:04:30. > :04:35.they saw members of what seemed to be the military, rather than the

:04:36. > :04:40.police, rushing into palace Yard with shields. So you may well hear

:04:41. > :04:46.some shouting in the background. It is a very, very tense atmosphere in

:04:47. > :04:50.here. People have been told they can't leave, as it is considered a

:04:51. > :04:53.dangerous situation and there is really, very little information for

:04:54. > :05:00.the few hundred people who are inside the Parliamentary estate.

:05:01. > :05:02.We are seeing pictures of the other incident, the aftermath of the other

:05:03. > :05:07.incident which happened on Westminster Bridge which will have

:05:08. > :05:10.happened prior to the one that you heard of a vehicle ramming

:05:11. > :05:15.deliberately into a group of people and we know from a junior doctor at

:05:16. > :05:20.St Thomas' Hospital that one woman has been killed in that incident and

:05:21. > :05:28.a number of others have suffered what have been described as

:05:29. > :05:31.catastrophic injuries. Yes, I saw the police pushing

:05:32. > :05:35.members of the public into Portcullis House and others rushing

:05:36. > :05:39.along the riverside away from Westminster Bridge. That stacks up

:05:40. > :05:43.with that timing that the attack just outside Portcullis, that

:05:44. > :05:50.happened a short while before there was any gunshots and we had a series

:05:51. > :05:53.of events which can't be categorically clear about the

:05:54. > :05:56.sequencing of them, let's be upfront about that. We are piecing together

:05:57. > :06:00.what has been a fast moving situation and we are still in a

:06:01. > :06:05.tense security situation, but that does seem to be the sequence of

:06:06. > :06:10.events and piecing together what I have been told was MPs rushing up to

:06:11. > :06:13.Portcullis House from their underground walkway having heard

:06:14. > :06:17.gunshots and members of the public being bundled into Portcullis House,

:06:18. > :06:22.people like myself being moved back rapidly by police and then dozens of

:06:23. > :06:25.members of the public, I saw rushing along the riverside, outside the

:06:26. > :06:33.building, that does seem to suggest that sequence of events and that

:06:34. > :06:40.chronology, but this is a very confusing, a situation that's very

:06:41. > :06:44.dangerous and we can't be categoric about that sequence of events at

:06:45. > :06:50.this stage. Let's talk to Charlie Cooper. Charlie, an attack on the

:06:51. > :06:55.heart of Westminster. Yes, I mean, absolutely. We work here in the

:06:56. > :07:01.Parliamentary press gallery which is in the Palace of Westminster itself

:07:02. > :07:07.and about 2.30pm, 2.45pm we heard a bang. We went to the window because

:07:08. > :07:11.after that bang we heard screaming. We saw people running from the

:07:12. > :07:17.direction of Westminster Bridge. So I presume that was connected to the

:07:18. > :07:20.events that happened on Westminster Bridge, but after that, we saw an

:07:21. > :07:26.individual who appeared to be forcing his way into the

:07:27. > :07:34.Parliamentary estate. Past the gate which is guarded by police officers.

:07:35. > :07:38.We saw what looked like a struggle and this individual began to attack

:07:39. > :07:43.a police officer. He advanced further into the Parliamentary

:07:44. > :07:46.estate and then we saw armed officers advance and shout a

:07:47. > :07:53.warning. The individual did not stop and he was then shot by the armed

:07:54. > :08:00.officers. Charlie, can we clarify, it was the one person who went into

:08:01. > :08:06.Palace Yard, was it? Just the one person we saw from our vantage point

:08:07. > :08:09.which is below Big Ben. What impression did you have as to the

:08:10. > :08:13.seriousness of the injuries to the police officer and indeed, to the

:08:14. > :08:22.assailant? It is hard to tell from this distance. But I would be

:08:23. > :08:26.surprised if they weren't very serious injuries. I just want to say

:08:27. > :08:29.the police officers who stand by that gate, they are there every day

:08:30. > :08:36.and they are armed and they are there to look after us and I want to

:08:37. > :08:40.pay tribute to their bravery because this brings back home, it is

:08:41. > :08:42.extremely sad. Charlie, thank you very much. A difficult time for you,

:08:43. > :08:54.I know. Charlie Cooper there. Well, let's bring you up-to-date

:08:55. > :09:01.with what we know so far. A very tense scene still at Westminster as

:09:02. > :09:08.you can imagine. Two incidents appear to have happened. A man

:09:09. > :09:12.driving a vehicle on Westminster Bridge ploughing deliberately into a

:09:13. > :09:17.group of people. We know from a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital that a

:09:18. > :09:21.woman has died and several others have suffered what has been

:09:22. > :09:24.described as catastrophic injuries. That vehicle appears to have rammed

:09:25. > :09:32.into railings near the Palace of Westminster. An individual ran

:09:33. > :09:38.towards the building at New Palace Gate. Attacked a police officer, but

:09:39. > :09:45.then himself was shot by armed police. Let's go to Wyre Davies who

:09:46. > :09:50.is near the scene. What's happening at the moment? Well, I'm just south

:09:51. > :09:53.of Westminster Bridge. That's the Palace of Westminster. The bridge

:09:54. > :09:58.where the first incident happened is there. St Thomas' Hospital is less

:09:59. > :10:02.than 200 meters. Any casualties, many have been taken to the

:10:03. > :10:05.hospital. To my left, we've got the London Eye. The London Eye has

:10:06. > :10:11.stopped working. There are visitors inside the pods of the London Eye

:10:12. > :10:14.and they are being held there. There is a complete police lockdown. There

:10:15. > :10:18.are dozens of police vehicles. Armed police to my right. There are

:10:19. > :10:22.specialist teams that we have seen, a man being suited up in what looked

:10:23. > :10:25.like to be a bomb disposal kit. There is some forensic work

:10:26. > :10:28.happening on the bridge as well. There are police officers going

:10:29. > :10:34.around here asking for eyewitnesses also to what happened. So this is,

:10:35. > :10:38.you know, a matter of over an hour after the firstence dent happened

:10:39. > :10:40.and as we can see plenty of ambulances and plenty of police

:10:41. > :10:45.vehicles still on Westminster Bridge.

:10:46. > :10:51.You were talking about St Thomas' Hospital being so close, but already

:10:52. > :10:56.knew that this has turned into a fatal attack and a number of people

:10:57. > :11:00.seriously injured. Indeed. St Thomas' Hospital appears to have

:11:01. > :11:04.been emptied of nonurgent cases and many people were leaving there when

:11:05. > :11:08.we walked past the hospital and we were not allowed onto the hospital

:11:09. > :11:11.grounds because the doctors and nurses are dealing with this serious

:11:12. > :11:17.incident but the whole area, office buildings, Waterloo station, nobody

:11:18. > :11:20.is being allowed from those places towards the river, and the police

:11:21. > :11:35.are moving people further and further back as we speak. There are

:11:36. > :11:43.helicopters overhead. Thank you. This is the scene, we are

:11:44. > :11:47.overlooking Westminster, Parliament Square, with Palace Yard the scene

:11:48. > :11:52.of the second part of this incident. Just to the right of the screen. An

:11:53. > :11:58.area which is cordoned off, huge police presence, and Parliament is

:11:59. > :12:04.still in lockdown with MPs and journalists who spend their days in

:12:05. > :12:10.the building being capped out of the way -- kept. An incident which

:12:11. > :12:14.started at 240 this afternoon, and we can now bring you the account

:12:15. > :12:20.from one eyewitness who was on Westminster Bridge.

:12:21. > :12:26.Driving along here, and then the armed police evacuated these

:12:27. > :12:32.buildings. And they were running up here. As we poured onto Westminster

:12:33. > :12:38.Bridge we see people laying on the bridge and then the SWAT team turned

:12:39. > :12:45.up with paramedics and they asked us to abandon our vehicle and walk

:12:46. > :12:50.away. Hanley people were lying down? There was a lady on the pavement on

:12:51. > :12:55.the entrance to the bridge -- how many people. And five more people

:12:56. > :12:59.laying on the pavement further up the bridge. Did anyone see what

:13:00. > :13:07.happened that you spoke to? The cab driver in front said that he thought

:13:08. > :13:11.the car had come down and knocked these people over. And after that?

:13:12. > :13:22.It carried on? I assume so, yes. The Metropolitan Police are going to

:13:23. > :13:29.make a statement in about 15 minutes. There should be more

:13:30. > :13:33.information from them and we will bring you that as soon as we have

:13:34. > :13:41.it. In the meantime we can speak to Brian paddock, former senior officer

:13:42. > :13:49.in the Metropolitan Police -- Brian paddock. You are locked in there?

:13:50. > :13:55.Yes, the police are making sure that it is absolutely safe outside before

:13:56. > :14:03.they evacuate the Palace of Westminster. Did you hear anything,

:14:04. > :14:07.did you see anything? I was in a meeting in one of the committee

:14:08. > :14:15.rooms and we heard shouting and what sounded like gunfire. But that is

:14:16. > :14:19.all I know about the incident itself. Clearly it is a tragedy that

:14:20. > :14:29.someone has lost their life and there are many people injured. But

:14:30. > :14:32.it is a great credit to the police that I believe no one inside

:14:33. > :14:39.Parliament was in any danger at any time. As a former senior officer in

:14:40. > :14:48.the Metropolitan Police, what you read into the fact that Parliament

:14:49. > :14:51.is still in lockdown? My understanding is, there was a

:14:52. > :14:58.suspect package attached to a vehicle outside Parliament. So

:14:59. > :15:01.whilst armed officers searched the whole of the Parliamentary estate to

:15:02. > :15:08.make sure there were no suspects outstanding. It has taken a bit

:15:09. > :15:16.longer because they had the suspect package to deal with. At a time like

:15:17. > :15:22.this all sorts of rumours and suggestions are flying around and

:15:23. > :15:25.there have been some questioning as to whether the assailant was alone

:15:26. > :15:35.or whether there was someone else, have you heard anything? The trouble

:15:36. > :15:40.is, I was involved in the 7th of July bombings in 2005, and of course

:15:41. > :15:44.there is an element of confusion to begin with and it takes a while

:15:45. > :15:55.before the picture becomes clear, we are not sure whether there was one

:15:56. > :16:00.incident or 2-mac. -- two. Or whether it was all part of the same

:16:01. > :16:03.incident. These details will emerge, but we know the police have said

:16:04. > :16:08.they are treating this as a terrorist incident and Jill they

:16:09. > :16:14.know otherwise. -- on till they know otherwise. That is a sensible

:16:15. > :16:18.approach to take, both in terms of the security measures that they are

:16:19. > :16:24.taking to make sure it is completely safe before allowing... There are

:16:25. > :16:30.many members of the public who have been in Parliament, at meetings and

:16:31. > :16:37.so forth, as well as MPs and Lords. But also in terms of making sure

:16:38. > :16:40.that the scene of the crime is preserved and that the necessary

:16:41. > :16:43.evidence is gathered, so a very sensible approach to treat it as a

:16:44. > :16:48.terrorist incident until proven otherwise. What is the atmosphere

:16:49. > :16:57.like where you are? What do people feel? People are calm. They are

:16:58. > :17:02.being provided with water and there are toilets nearby, and at the

:17:03. > :17:16.present time it is reasonably relaxed. OK. Brian Padwick, thanks.

:17:17. > :17:23.We can update you. People are joining all the time, as happens

:17:24. > :17:26.when events like this take place. I car has crashed into the perimeter

:17:27. > :17:31.at Parliament on Westminster Bridge Road -- a car. Police are not

:17:32. > :17:38.confirming if the vehicle was involved with the late incident but

:17:39. > :17:42.they have said they are treating it as a terrorist incident until they

:17:43. > :17:48.know otherwise. We're waiting for news conference from Scotland Yard.

:17:49. > :17:51.House of Lords and the House of Commons have been suspended until

:17:52. > :17:58.further notice. We have a still taken within the New Palace Yard.

:17:59. > :18:04.This was taken moments after somebody reportedly armed with a

:18:05. > :18:08.knife ran into Palace Yard and this is the scene shortly afterwards.

:18:09. > :18:17.Clearly injured and receiving medical attention. A police officer

:18:18. > :18:21.also injured in this incident and we have no more information as to the

:18:22. > :18:28.condition of either or any of those involved, but this taken... And

:18:29. > :18:34.police in attendance as the man is taken to an ambulance. This happened

:18:35. > :18:39.after the events on Westminster Bridge, but just a few moments after

:18:40. > :18:45.a car reportedly ploughed into a group, hearing from Nick Robinson, a

:18:46. > :18:48.group of French schoolchildren, we have heard from a junior topped at

:18:49. > :18:52.St Thomas' Hospital, one woman has died as a result of that with many

:18:53. > :18:58.others reportedly suffering catastrophic injuries -- junior

:18:59. > :19:06.doctor. But this was the incident at Palace Yard. The Labour MP Mary

:19:07. > :19:12.Creagh arrived at the scene and she has been telling us about what she

:19:13. > :19:17.saw. When we were on our way to vote there were armed police officers

:19:18. > :19:21.standing at the end of the escalator is, there was an escalator which

:19:22. > :19:25.links Portcullis House and a tidal through to the Palace of Westminster

:19:26. > :19:30.which is where the votes take place -- tunnel. We saw armed guards at

:19:31. > :19:36.the base of that and I could see that there was a lot of activity and

:19:37. > :19:41.some anxiety. But we have a lot of armed police around at all times,

:19:42. > :19:44.but as I got off the escalator I saw people running towards me and I was

:19:45. > :19:53.kind of like, why are they coming this way? Penny mordant said shots

:19:54. > :19:58.have been fired and we need to get out of this place now. The

:19:59. > :20:01.escalators were on the down and we couldn't get back out and we had no

:20:02. > :20:06.choice but to go out of the revolving doors one at a time and

:20:07. > :20:09.that is when I shouted to the security guard, you've got to open

:20:10. > :20:12.these doors and we've got to get out of the building now. He opened the

:20:13. > :20:17.doors and we ran out, and I found myself in Westminster station and I

:20:18. > :20:23.thought to myself, the one thing we don't want is to have a load of

:20:24. > :20:27.tourists walking up with their children into this situation, so I

:20:28. > :20:30.went to the control room and I told the controller that there had been

:20:31. > :20:38.what we thought was a terror attack on the Palace of Westminster and I

:20:39. > :20:44.said you need to do is -- you need to shut the station right now. Did

:20:45. > :20:48.you need to convince them? I did not have my badge on, I just happy for a

:20:49. > :20:52.tea that sheer panic gives you and they took me very seriously -- I

:20:53. > :20:57.just had the authority that sheer panic gives you. He put the radio

:20:58. > :21:03.alert to his staff and I could see them giving up with their high

:21:04. > :21:07.visibility jacket, and then we came outside and we had no idea there had

:21:08. > :21:13.been a rampaging attack on the bridge and we were trying to work

:21:14. > :21:16.out where we could go. We took a decision, I said, New Scotland Yard

:21:17. > :21:19.is down the road, we will see what the police know and work out what is

:21:20. > :21:26.going on and then regrouped and let our loved ones know that we are

:21:27. > :21:33.safe. The picture of the attack is not known, in full, but do you think

:21:34. > :21:39.that the measures which are in place to keep you safe appeared to work

:21:40. > :21:45.reasonably smoothly? Apart from the issue with the down escalator. There

:21:46. > :21:51.was an issue about our awareness that something bad had happened. The

:21:52. > :21:55.police in the building knew that something bad had happened outside,

:21:56. > :21:59.but what none of us knew was that they were on their way to try and

:22:00. > :22:02.get inside the building. Too many occasions between the outside and

:22:03. > :22:08.inside of the building will need to be looked at -- communications

:22:09. > :22:13.between. So you think you could have been told earlier? That there was

:22:14. > :22:18.something going on outside and you need to not go out? I was the first

:22:19. > :22:23.person to tell my staff to tell them we were on lockdown. I walked out of

:22:24. > :22:29.a meeting with civil servants and committee quirks and my first

:22:30. > :22:34.thought was for my staff -- emitted clerks. I told them to stay in the

:22:35. > :22:40.building and turn on the television and not go anywhere. They were

:22:41. > :22:50.nonplussed, because they had no idea that it was going on even five - ten

:22:51. > :23:04.minutes before. What else have recovered? -- haven't we cover? The

:23:05. > :23:11.police. Yes, we understand a policeman was taken down. My

:23:12. > :23:16.thoughts are with the policeman who was taken down in the line of duty

:23:17. > :23:20.today. They are incredibly brave and they help ministers get in and out

:23:21. > :23:24.my thoughts are with him and his family and all of those who have

:23:25. > :23:30.been caught up in these very events. These are things which we plan for

:23:31. > :23:34.and which we hope will never come, but clearly those security

:23:35. > :23:39.procedures have been tested today. That was the Labour MP Mary Creagh.

:23:40. > :23:48.We can bring you some amateur video now. Of the incident within the

:23:49. > :23:56.Parliamentary estate. You can see there is a person on the ground and

:23:57. > :24:04.many others running towards him. There is a closer shot which we

:24:05. > :24:09.showed you a couple of minutes ago of a man clearly injured and being

:24:10. > :24:16.tended to but we don't know what is the condition of this person. We are

:24:17. > :24:18.going to go to New Scotland Yard where the police are going to hold a

:24:19. > :24:47.news conference. Here they come. Since 240 this afternoon we have

:24:48. > :24:52.responded to an incident in Parliament Square and we have deemed

:24:53. > :24:57.this a terrorist and incident. -- terrorist incident. I will confirm

:24:58. > :25:00.what we know has happened, but I will not speculate. We received a

:25:01. > :25:06.number of different reports which included a person in the river, a

:25:07. > :25:13.car colliding with pedestrians and a man armed with a knife. Officers

:25:14. > :25:18.were already in the area as part of routine policing. We are working

:25:19. > :25:23.closely with the London and Berlin service and the Fire Brigade. I

:25:24. > :25:26.would like to repeat our request for the public to avoid the following

:25:27. > :25:32.areas, Parliament is great, Whitehawk Westminster Bridge,

:25:33. > :25:37.Lambeth Bridge, Victoria Street to the junction with Broadway --

:25:38. > :25:42.Whitehall. And awards in bagman chip station, this is to allow emergency

:25:43. > :25:49.services today with incident -- and towards embankment station. We would

:25:50. > :25:53.ask anybody who has images or film at the incident to pass close to the

:25:54. > :25:56.police. We know there are a number of categories including police

:25:57. > :26:02.offices at this stage we cannot confirm numbers or the nature of

:26:03. > :26:07.these injuries. -- a number of injuries. We have got to gather all

:26:08. > :26:10.important information and evidence, and public safety is our top

:26:11. > :26:12.priority and we are reviewing our policing stance across London and

:26:13. > :26:17.throughout the capital this afternoon. There will be additional

:26:18. > :26:22.officers on duty and deployed across the capital. I would like to ask the

:26:23. > :26:25.public to remain vigilant and let us know if they see anything suspicious

:26:26. > :26:32.which causes them concern and if they do to dial 999 immediately. The

:26:33. > :26:35.Acting Commissioner is being treated as a significant witness as he was

:26:36. > :26:40.at the scene when the incident started. Whilst he is not injured,

:26:41. > :26:44.it would be inappropriate for him to be here to talk about the incident

:26:45. > :26:48.at this stage. Our thoughts and his thoughts are with all of those

:26:49. > :26:50.involved and responding to the instant this evening and I would

:26:51. > :26:57.stress that if anyone has information about today's incident

:26:58. > :27:01.by our urge to call oh 8007893 to one and I would stress that if the

:27:02. > :27:07.public have any information or have seen anything suspicious to dial 999

:27:08. > :27:16.immediately. Is the incident either? I will not speculate. -- over. It is

:27:17. > :27:20.our priority ticket London safe and people will see additional officers

:27:21. > :27:28.when they are going home -- to keep London safe. I've told you what

:27:29. > :27:31.information I have and we will continue to keep you updated as we

:27:32. > :27:35.find things out for the I'm not prepared to speculate. Ladies and

:27:36. > :27:40.gentlemen, thanks for your time this evening. I would stress to the

:27:41. > :27:47.public that our number-1 piracy, working with partners, is to keep

:27:48. > :27:51.London safe -- number-1 priority. Most importantly, if people see

:27:52. > :27:58.anything suspicious, dial 999 if they think it is an emergency. Thank

:27:59. > :28:00.you very much. Ongoing incident, terrorist incident, and a number of

:28:01. > :28:07.casualties including police officers. The Deputy Commissioner of

:28:08. > :28:14.the Metropolitan Police was at the scene and in self is being

:28:15. > :28:16.questioned. -- himself. Daniel, no numbers, but the number of

:28:17. > :28:24.casualties, he says, including police. Yes, there are a few very

:28:25. > :28:27.interesting things to come out of that press conference, even though

:28:28. > :28:32.it was brief. They are considering it as a terrorist incident at this

:28:33. > :28:38.stage and secondly the Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan

:28:39. > :28:41.Police, the man in charge of the Metropolitan Police between the two

:28:42. > :28:46.commissioners was present at the scene at the time of the incident

:28:47. > :28:49.and clearly that is very useful for the police in terms of giving

:28:50. > :28:52.information but it makes it rather difficult for the Acting

:28:53. > :28:55.Commissioner to talk to us because he will be an important witness when

:28:56. > :29:00.the case comes to court and that there are a number of casualties

:29:01. > :29:04.including police officers, and at this stage the police have said to

:29:05. > :29:08.us, off the record, they don't want to get into the numbers of people

:29:09. > :29:11.injured and if there are any that talent is at this stage, that is not

:29:12. > :29:18.something they want to do whilst they are still trying to work out

:29:19. > :29:21.exactly what happened. We have spoken to eyewitnesses who say they

:29:22. > :29:26.have seen at least eight people injured on Westminster Bridge and

:29:27. > :29:34.the vehicle seems to have travelled over the bridge knocking people

:29:35. > :29:38.down. The commander there spoke about reports of someone being in

:29:39. > :29:42.the water and we also have a report of the vehicle smashing into the

:29:43. > :29:44.gates at Westminster and someone being tackled inside palace chart

:29:45. > :29:52.and there is the video of someone being tackled by police -- Palace

:29:53. > :29:56.Yard. Still sketchy details, but what we have seen is what the police

:29:57. > :30:02.consider at this stage to be a terrorist incident at the very very

:30:03. > :30:11.heart of the political establishment here in London. Thank U. A woman was

:30:12. > :30:21.pulled alive from the river, we have had confirmation. Nicky Morgan is in

:30:22. > :30:27.Portcullis House. You are presumably locked into the building and have

:30:28. > :30:32.been for some time? Yes, I've been watching, like Mary Creagh, all the

:30:33. > :30:37.MPs were going to vote when the incident happened. It sounds like I

:30:38. > :30:43.was a bit further ahead of her on the way to the old Palace to vote,

:30:44. > :30:50.when the gunshots rang out, and it takes a moment to think about that

:30:51. > :30:53.is not a car backfiring, and then there was a lot of, get down on the

:30:54. > :30:59.floor, get back in the building. That is what we all did. Since then

:31:00. > :31:04.we have been kept safe in various locations as the building is in

:31:05. > :31:10.lockdown. It must have been a frightening moment? Yes, and I think

:31:11. > :31:14.afterwards you probably realise what was going on and how close you were

:31:15. > :31:18.to something, and of course the Palace of Westminster, although

:31:19. > :31:23.there is a lot of security and they do an amazing job keeping us said,

:31:24. > :31:26.many people come and go all the time so there would have been people who

:31:27. > :31:32.will not have been very far away from this incident and folding. --

:31:33. > :31:37.and folding. When it happens your brain takes a few seconds to catch

:31:38. > :31:41.up and that is not something normal, and then when you see officers

:31:42. > :31:47.starting to react and yelling, you know that something very serious is

:31:48. > :31:54.happening. We hear that there will be an emergency Cobra meeting

:31:55. > :32:01.tonight. Chaired by Theresa May. You have been a cabinet minister and you

:32:02. > :32:06.will not have attended one of these meetings necessary, but what kind of

:32:07. > :32:14.thing will they be wanting to discuss? I have not been in the Home

:32:15. > :32:18.Office, I have attended a Cobra meeting in the past, and I think at

:32:19. > :32:24.the time it is a lot of information gathering. As to what has happened.

:32:25. > :32:28.The police are very careful not to speculate, it is about understanding

:32:29. > :32:34.what has happened. And what needs to happen in terms of providing

:32:35. > :32:38.security and safety for members of the public going forward and then

:32:39. > :32:43.there will be more information that comes and that is found out later on

:32:44. > :32:49.in the process. At this time it is right that the secured his services

:32:50. > :32:54.and the police are doing their job -- the security services. The

:32:55. > :33:00.emergency services are looking after those who have been injured and we

:33:01. > :33:05.sadly know about one death. The people on the bridge, many of us

:33:06. > :33:11.feel terrible that members of the public have been caught up in this

:33:12. > :33:16.incident. We have pictures of a stream of people being let out of

:33:17. > :33:20.the Palace of Westminster. They will have been in lockdown now for over

:33:21. > :33:25.two hours and we know that these incidents happened at roughly 240

:33:26. > :33:32.this afternoon. Clearly the lockdown has been lifted and people no doubt

:33:33. > :33:38.relieved at being allowed back out into the open air. There will be a

:33:39. > :33:44.lot of discussion now about the security arrangements at

:33:45. > :33:50.Westminster. There will. There has been a lot of work done and I was

:33:51. > :33:54.first elected seven years ago and security has been tightened all the

:33:55. > :33:57.time. MPs elected for much longer will say the security has changed

:33:58. > :34:02.the face of Westminster, but there is a balance. Because there are many

:34:03. > :34:06.people who need to come to this building every day, not just MPs and

:34:07. > :34:10.members of the House of Lords, there are thousands of members of staff

:34:11. > :34:17.who look after us and also members of the public. Today I had college

:34:18. > :34:20.students from my constituency who were visiting and it is very

:34:21. > :34:24.important that they are able to come and see the Palace and to go on

:34:25. > :34:29.these tours which they really enjoy and value and we have many tourists,

:34:30. > :34:33.as well. You have got to get the balance right between public access

:34:34. > :34:37.and the ability of people to meet their MPs and also keeping people

:34:38. > :34:41.safe and the police knowing exactly who is on the estate and what people

:34:42. > :34:45.are bringing in. The London Ambulance Service said they have

:34:46. > :34:51.treated at least ten people on Westminster Bridge, so that was the

:34:52. > :34:58.incident which happened prior to the attack in the Palace of Westminster

:34:59. > :35:01.precinct, of a vehicle ploughing seemingly deliberately into a group

:35:02. > :35:07.of people, and the London Ambulance Service have said they have treated

:35:08. > :35:11.at least ten people, with the possibility of more, of course. And

:35:12. > :35:17.we know that a woman has died from her injuries in that incident. And

:35:18. > :35:26.others have sustained what have been called catastrophic injuries. That

:35:27. > :35:29.goes to reinforce your point, Nicky Morgan, to a certain extent London

:35:30. > :35:38.is an open city and there is a limit to how much you can lockdown areas.

:35:39. > :35:41.You can impose security on the Palace of Westminster but the areas

:35:42. > :35:48.around it are extremely busy, as well. Absolutely. The Palace of

:35:49. > :35:54.Westminster is one of the UNESCO world Heritage sites and it is

:35:55. > :36:02.always full of tourists, no matter the time of year, or the time of

:36:03. > :36:06.day, it is always very important that people can visit and we want

:36:07. > :36:11.that to continue, and I suspect there will be many people watching

:36:12. > :36:15.and listening to have been to the Palace and have walked over

:36:16. > :36:19.Westminster Bridge. And have walked along the embankment and they will

:36:20. > :36:25.know these places very well and will be absolutely stunned to see what

:36:26. > :36:28.has happened today. I think that today is a time for gathering

:36:29. > :36:33.information and understanding what has happened, but it is important

:36:34. > :36:37.that we keep that public element. What you don't want is for

:36:38. > :36:41.parliamentarians to be even more removed from outside, it is

:36:42. > :36:45.important that we are able to meet members of the public and for them

:36:46. > :36:52.to visit this place which is the mother of all parliaments. Indeed.

:36:53. > :36:56.For any people just joining us, we are seeing a flood of people here

:36:57. > :37:00.being let out of the Palace of Westminster, they have been held

:37:01. > :37:05.there in lockdown for over two hours now, after two incidence which the

:37:06. > :37:10.Metropolitan Police are describing as, they say they are treating them

:37:11. > :37:16.as terrorist incidents, after they happened at about 240 this

:37:17. > :37:21.afternoon. People no doubt relieved to be allowed out of the building,

:37:22. > :37:27.and what was the atmosphere like, Nicky Morgan, when this was going on

:37:28. > :37:34.inside? First of were stunned that something like this had happened,

:37:35. > :37:38.and then curiosity over what happened -- first of all people were

:37:39. > :37:43.stunned. What is remarkable about where I was in Portcullis House, was

:37:44. > :37:49.that there were MPs, members of the public, many journalists, members of

:37:50. > :37:57.staff who were there, a real mixture of people. And people not

:37:58. > :38:01.complaining, we were being kept safe and very grateful for all of the

:38:02. > :38:05.support and safety we have had from the police officers and security

:38:06. > :38:09.personnel today. Afterwards there will be a time for reflection, but

:38:10. > :38:14.people were quite shaky. It was a shock to people, and although you

:38:15. > :38:19.hear of incidents happening like this, you never think it will happen

:38:20. > :38:29.to you, in your workplace, and very tragically it has. Nicky Morgan,

:38:30. > :38:36.many thanks. We can bring you up to date with what we know so far. We

:38:37. > :38:40.have a statement from the Mayor of London who says he would like to

:38:41. > :38:44.express his thanks to the police and emergency services and he says he

:38:45. > :38:48.has spoken to the Acting Commissioner who was involved as a

:38:49. > :38:50.witness to the incident. The Metropolitan Police services dealing

:38:51. > :38:57.with the incident and he says his are with those affected and their

:38:58. > :39:01.families. Terror on the streets of London in the heart of Westminster,

:39:02. > :39:05.eyewitnesses describing scenes of terror as an attacker is shot

:39:06. > :39:09.several times as he approached a police officer within yards of the

:39:10. > :39:16.houses of Parliament. Paramedics fighting to save his life. On the

:39:17. > :39:23.floor of the cobbled courtyard at the fond of Parliament. Along those

:39:24. > :39:32.giving aid, a minister at the pious award. -- Tobias Ellwood. There was

:39:33. > :39:36.a vehicle before that which ploughed apparently deliberately into a group

:39:37. > :39:39.of people on Westminster Bridge, and one of our colleagues Nick Robinson

:39:40. > :39:45.said it appeared to be a group of French students. We know one woman

:39:46. > :39:50.has died in that instant and several others have sustained catastrophic

:39:51. > :39:53.injuries. -- incident. Parliament was evacuated and MPs have been in

:39:54. > :40:00.not down and they are now being asked to, but an ongoing scene --

:40:01. > :40:08.lockdown. Continuous coverage here on BBC News.

:40:09. > :40:14.Terrorism in the heart of Westminster. A vehicle and knife

:40:15. > :40:19.attack has left at least one woman dead and others with catastrophic

:40:20. > :40:24.injuries. Police are treating this as a terrorist incident. This is

:40:25. > :40:28.thought to be the attacker as he was apprehended. Eyewitnesses say a car

:40:29. > :40:31.mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing

:40:32. > :40:35.into railings outside Parliament. Some people have been seriously

:40:36. > :40:40.injured, a number of bodies were seen on the ground. It's believed a

:40:41. > :40:43.short time after that, the attacker stabbed a police officer outside

:40:44. > :40:50.Parliament before being shot by police. This man, who appears to be

:40:51. > :40:55.the attacker, was treated inside the Palace of Westminster shortly after.

:40:56. > :41:00.The Prime Minister was in Parliament at the time, but is now back in

:41:01. > :41:06.Downing Street. There will be an emergency Cobra meeting tonight.

:41:07. > :41:09.I'll be reporting live from the edge of the police cordoned in

:41:10. > :41:32.Westminster which is tonight in lockdown.

:41:33. > :41:37.Welcome to this BBC News special programme. A woman has died and a

:41:38. > :41:41.number of other people, including police officers, have been injured

:41:42. > :41:45.in what police are treating as a terrorist incident in the heart of

:41:46. > :41:48.London. Some of the injured are said to have suffered catastrophic

:41:49. > :41:53.injuries. A large part of Westminster is in lockdown this

:41:54. > :41:57.evening, after a car drove along Westminster Bridge, apparently

:41:58. > :41:59.mowing down pedestrians. The London Ambulance Service say it is in

:42:00. > :42:01.lockdown this evening, after a car drove along Westminster Bridge,

:42:02. > :42:03.apparently mowing down pedestrians. The London Ambulance Service say

:42:04. > :42:12.it's treated at least ten people there. Shortly afterwards, a man

:42:13. > :42:14.stabbed a to hospital. Parliamentary business has been suspended. The

:42:15. > :42:20.Prime Minister was inside at the time of the attack but is now back

:42:21. > :42:24.in Downing Street. Let's take you through what we know so far.

:42:25. > :42:29.Eyewitnesses reported seeing a vehicle driving into a number of

:42:30. > :42:35.people on Westminster Bridge, before crashing into railings. That

:42:36. > :42:40.happened at 2:40pm. One woman died and a number of others were injured,

:42:41. > :42:44.some of them have sustained serious injuries. Shortly after that, it is

:42:45. > :42:48.understood a police officer was stabbed inside the grounds of

:42:49. > :42:54.Parliament, that attacker was then shot by armed police. My colleague

:42:55. > :43:01.Ben Brown is at the scene this evening in Westminster. The very

:43:02. > :43:06.latest we are hearing is that a woman has been pulled alive from the

:43:07. > :43:11.River Thames, just to my left at Westminster. Alive but with serious

:43:12. > :43:14.injuries. We're just at the edge of the police cordoned at Westminster.

:43:15. > :43:18.I'll show you the scene, a lot of people are gathering to see what's

:43:19. > :43:24.going on. Police in huge numbers here, a lot of police cars and

:43:25. > :43:28.Sirens, helicopters overhead. Still an enormous amount of police

:43:29. > :43:31.activity. The police are saying they are putting extra officers onto the

:43:32. > :43:35.streets of the capital this evening as a result of what they are

:43:36. > :43:41.describing as a terrorist incident. A Cobra meeting led by the Prime

:43:42. > :43:47.Minister Theresa May is getting underway this evening. Let's get

:43:48. > :43:52.this report on the day's events. SIRENS

:43:53. > :43:56.At 2:40pm this afternoon, police responded to an attack on

:43:57. > :44:04.parliament. It's been described as a terrorist incident. People fled from

:44:05. > :44:14.the area in panic. With the air ambulance arriving, it was clear

:44:15. > :44:19.there had been casualties. SIRENS On Westminster Bridge, very close to

:44:20. > :44:23.Parliament, this car had smashed into the railings. On its way, it

:44:24. > :44:28.had apparently ploughed into pedestrians who'd been walking along

:44:29. > :44:32.the pavement. Up and down the length of the bridge, at least eight

:44:33. > :44:36.figures lying on the ground on the pavement of the bridge. It appears a

:44:37. > :44:42.car mounted the pavement on the south side of the bridge and

:44:43. > :44:47.deliberately struck numerous individuals, leaving them on the

:44:48. > :44:55.ground, before crashing at the North end of the bridge. As I walked up

:44:56. > :45:03.the bridge, there was a lady in a pool of her own blood. There was

:45:04. > :45:09.another lady next to her who was injured. As I looked towards Big

:45:10. > :45:13.Ben, there was a lady in the roads. There were about three people

:45:14. > :45:19.sitting up against the bridge being looked after. It's something you

:45:20. > :45:26.just don't expect to see in London. It's quite shocking, actually. And

:45:27. > :45:29.inside the perimeter of the parliament grounds, more casualties.

:45:30. > :45:35.A policeman had apparently been stabbed by a man who'd managed to

:45:36. > :45:40.get through the entrance. I saw a man forcing his way through. He

:45:41. > :45:47.attacked one of the police officers. Then another police officer came to

:45:48. > :45:50.his aid. The assailant got up with his arm outstretched. He had

:45:51. > :45:59.something in his hand, I'm guessing a knife. I heard the sound of

:46:00. > :46:02.gunfire and that was obviously when I realised something very serious

:46:03. > :46:09.was happening. The man who allegedly carried out the attack had been shot

:46:10. > :46:12.dead. Inside the chamber of the House of Commons, MPs had been

:46:13. > :46:18.gathering to vote and were told not to move as the incident unfolded. At

:46:19. > :46:24.the moment the very clear advice from the police and the director of

:46:25. > :46:29.security in the house is that we should remain under suspension, and

:46:30. > :46:32.that the chamber should remain in lockdown until we receive advice

:46:33. > :46:39.that it is safe to go back to normal procedures. Doctors are saying at

:46:40. > :46:44.least one person has been killed in this attack, and several others have

:46:45. > :46:48.been injured. We know there are a number of casualties including

:46:49. > :46:52.police officers. At this stage we cannot confirm numbers or the nature

:46:53. > :46:57.of these injuries. Our response will be ongoing for some time, and it is

:46:58. > :47:01.important we gather all possible information and evidence. Public

:47:02. > :47:07.safety is our top priority, and we are reviewing our policing stance

:47:08. > :47:15.across London. There will be additional officers on duty and

:47:16. > :47:18.deployed across the capital. This evening, the whole area remains

:47:19. > :47:28.sealed off, as a counterterrorism investigation gets underway. SIRENS

:47:29. > :47:32.Here at Westminster, you can probably hear some of the Sirens, an

:47:33. > :47:36.ambulance going past right now. A lot of police vehicles around where

:47:37. > :47:39.we are, just at the edge of the police cordoned. Down the road at

:47:40. > :47:45.the Palace of Westminster we are hearing that MPs and peers have been

:47:46. > :47:49.leaving the Palace of Westminster. It's been in lockdown since the

:47:50. > :47:53.incident began after lunch, it's been in lockdown and people were

:47:54. > :47:57.told to stay where they were, including MPs and peers. In the last

:47:58. > :48:01.few minutes they've been moved away from the Palace of Westminster, to

:48:02. > :48:04.Westminster Abbey. The Prime Minister was also moved from

:48:05. > :48:09.parliament back to Downing Street. You saw some of the Metropolitan

:48:10. > :48:13.Police commander talking in that report. Let's hear in full that

:48:14. > :48:19.statement from the Metropolitan Police and their commander BJ

:48:20. > :48:23.Harrington. Since 2:40pm, the MPS has responded to an incident in the

:48:24. > :48:26.area of Parliament Square. The senior national coordinator has

:48:27. > :48:30.declared this is a terrorist incident. Although we remain

:48:31. > :48:34.open-minded, a full counterterror investigation is underway. This is

:48:35. > :48:38.led by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. At this stage I will

:48:39. > :48:41.confirm what we know has happened but I will not speculate. We

:48:42. > :48:45.received a number of reports including a person in the River, a

:48:46. > :48:49.car in collision with pedestrians, and a man armed with a knife.

:48:50. > :48:53.Officers were already in the location as part of routine policing

:48:54. > :48:57.but immediately, additional officers were sent to the scene, including

:48:58. > :49:01.firearms officers. We are working closely with the Ambulance Service

:49:02. > :49:05.and fire brigade. I would like to repeat our request for the public to

:49:06. > :49:10.avoid the following areas. Parliament Square, Whitehall,

:49:11. > :49:14.Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, Victoria Street up to the junction

:49:15. > :49:19.with Broadway and the Victoria Embankment up to in bank Tube

:49:20. > :49:24.station. This is to allow emergency services to deal with this ongoing

:49:25. > :49:26.incident. There is an ongoing investigation being led by the

:49:27. > :49:31.Counter Terrorism Command, and we would ask anybody who has images or

:49:32. > :49:35.film of the incident to pass those to police. We know there are a

:49:36. > :49:39.number of casualties including police officers, but at this stage

:49:40. > :49:46.we cannot confirm numbers or the nature of the injuries. Our response

:49:47. > :49:49.will be ongoing for some time, it is important we gather all possible

:49:50. > :49:53.information and evidence. Public safety is our top priority and we

:49:54. > :49:56.are reviewing our policing stance across London and throughout the

:49:57. > :50:00.capital this afternoon. There will be additional officers on duty and

:50:01. > :50:04.deployed across the capital. I would like to ask the public to remain

:50:05. > :50:09.vigilant and let us know if they see anything suspicious that causes

:50:10. > :50:14.concern. If they do, dial 999 immediately. The Acting Commissioner

:50:15. > :50:18.Craig Mackey is being treated as a significant witness, as he was at

:50:19. > :50:22.the scene when the incident started. Whilst he isn't injured, it would be

:50:23. > :50:25.inappropriate for him to be here to talk about the incident at this

:50:26. > :50:28.stage. Our thoughts and his thoughts are with all of those involved and

:50:29. > :50:33.responding to the incident this evening. If anyone has information

:50:34. > :50:41.about today's incident they are urged to call 0800 789 321. I would

:50:42. > :50:45.stress, if the public have any information or see anything

:50:46. > :50:50.suspicious, dial 999 immediately. Does the incident seemed to be over?

:50:51. > :50:54.I'm not going to speculate, you'll see the response, officers are

:50:55. > :50:59.responding. I want to stress it is our priority to keep London safe.

:51:00. > :51:02.People going home will see additional officers deployed across

:51:03. > :51:09.London in order to achieve that aim. INAUDIBLE I've told you what

:51:10. > :51:15.information I have and I will continue to keep you updated. I'm

:51:16. > :51:23.not prepared to speculate. BJ Harrington of New Scotland Yard

:51:24. > :51:28.giving the latest press briefing to reporters. Let's go straight to our

:51:29. > :51:35.home affairs correspondent at Scotland Yard. What are you hearing

:51:36. > :51:39.about events today? We are starting to get a picture of what may have

:51:40. > :51:42.happened. From talking to eyewitnesses here at Scotland Yard,

:51:43. > :51:48.which is only 100 metres from the heart of the incident, it sounds as

:51:49. > :51:53.if a vehicle drove over Westminster Bridge at high speed, knocking

:51:54. > :51:56.people down. We've had eyewitnesses describing possibly eight people

:51:57. > :52:00.lying on Westminster Bridge. Somebody somehow ended up in the

:52:01. > :52:04.River Thames, possibly as part of the incident. A vehicle seems to

:52:05. > :52:10.have run itself up against the Palace of Westminster. We are

:52:11. > :52:14.hearing reports of two different possible assailants. One has been

:52:15. > :52:21.described to me by eyewitnesses as a white person, possibly with bald

:52:22. > :52:25.hair carrying two large knives. A second person, which seems to be the

:52:26. > :52:30.man being arrested in old Palace Yard, appears to be a black man with

:52:31. > :52:34.a goatee beard. Talking to police officers around here, there does

:52:35. > :52:40.seem to be a feeling that there may have been two people in the vehicle.

:52:41. > :52:45.A possible, and I stress a possible picture of a vehicle with two people

:52:46. > :52:49.in it, one black, one white, mowing people down on Westminster Bridge

:52:50. > :52:54.and then the people inside trying to get inside the Palace of Westminster

:52:55. > :52:57.itself. I've also heard powerful accounts from an MP who was in the

:52:58. > :53:03.Palace of Westminster at the time, trying to get to vote, Mary Creagh

:53:04. > :53:07.then describing how she couldn't go to vote and not really understanding

:53:08. > :53:13.what was going on, and finding herself in a position where she

:53:14. > :53:17.couldn't go back to her office. Then going out through a turnstile into

:53:18. > :53:20.the tube station and persuading the staff in the tube station to shut

:53:21. > :53:25.the station down, which they then did at her request, in order to stop

:53:26. > :53:30.more passengers going out into the scene where this carnage was

:53:31. > :53:36.happening. The police, as you saw, didn't confirm the number of deaths,

:53:37. > :53:43.but we have had the suggestion that at least one person has been killed.

:53:44. > :53:47.Of course, always very heavy security around the Palace of

:53:48. > :53:53.Westminster, police responded to this attack very quickly and we know

:53:54. > :53:56.just over the weekend there was a big training exercise, counterterror

:53:57. > :53:59.training exercise on the River Thames. The police always wear

:54:00. > :54:05.something like this is a possibility. Yes, a number of

:54:06. > :54:09.interesting things about the police response. First of all, this is the

:54:10. > :54:12.place where there were the most number of armed officers deployed on

:54:13. > :54:19.the streets at any one time in London. There are a lot of armed

:54:20. > :54:23.officers on duty here. I have heard reports of people seeing police

:54:24. > :54:26.officers in grey uniforms of the counterterrorism specialist firearms

:54:27. > :54:31.officers, a new unit launched last year. It seems as if they were

:54:32. > :54:36.deployed. There are some suggestions that military units have also been

:54:37. > :54:42.deployed, which is part of the organised, prearranged response to

:54:43. > :54:46.an attack like this on the capital. That has been quite efficient,

:54:47. > :54:52.clearly the incident was incredibly fast and it's not prevented a lot of

:54:53. > :54:56.people getting injured. I've also, being here at Scotland Yard since

:54:57. > :55:00.the incident happened, I've seen Mark Rowley the national coordinator

:55:01. > :55:03.for counterterrorism leaving the building, going across to Downing

:55:04. > :55:08.Street and into the Cabinet Office so he can go to the Cobra meeting

:55:09. > :55:11.this afternoon, and then returning half an hour later. I think we will

:55:12. > :55:15.get more detail from Scotland Yard as the evening goes on but they will

:55:16. > :55:18.be cautious about releasing details, they like to make sure that when

:55:19. > :55:27.they released details they are accurate. Thank you. Daniel

:55:28. > :55:32.Sandford, our home affairs correspondent at Scotland Yard. I

:55:33. > :55:36.want to show you some video filmed by my BBC colleague Evan Davis from

:55:37. > :55:44.Newsnight shortly after this incident. It's around the Palace of

:55:45. > :55:53.Westminster. Injured people, casualties being treated on the

:55:54. > :56:00.ground. So that was filmed by my colleague Evan Davis from Newsnight

:56:01. > :56:04.just after it happened. Let's go to St Thomas' Hospital just across the

:56:05. > :56:08.River Thames, that is where some of the injured, some of the casualties

:56:09. > :56:12.are being treated right now. Very close to where it all happens. Let's

:56:13. > :56:19.get our correspondent there, what can you tell us? I'm at the south

:56:20. > :56:23.end of Westminster Bridge where the first incident happened, right next

:56:24. > :56:26.door to St Thomas' Hospital, less than 100 meters away. At least many

:56:27. > :56:29.of those injured were able to be brought it to be treated. We know

:56:30. > :56:34.there were at least ten injuries on the bridge in that first incident,

:56:35. > :56:38.some people have been treated at St Thomas' Hospital, others were taken

:56:39. > :56:46.to Kings College Hospital. Doctor reportedly told one of the news

:56:47. > :56:49.agencies there had been at at least one fatality and several of the

:56:50. > :56:53.injuries were catastrophic. That suggests the car drove over the

:56:54. > :56:57.bridge at high speed, also given the fact one woman was recovered from

:56:58. > :57:00.the river with serious injuries, that might be testament to the

:57:01. > :57:05.severity of what happened in that first incident on the bridge. The

:57:06. > :57:08.whole place is in lockdown, there are still police arriving. There are

:57:09. > :57:16.forensic officers arriving behind me, there are scenes of crime

:57:17. > :57:22.officers. I also saw one officer in bomb disposal gear. This is still an

:57:23. > :57:27.ongoing incident, it's very serious. As an indication of the lockdown

:57:28. > :57:32.along the river, a cafe is closed with people inside it. The London

:57:33. > :57:36.eye is closed, still with dozens of tourists trapped inside the pods.

:57:37. > :57:43.They have a clear view of what is going on on the bridge but are

:57:44. > :57:47.unable to get out of the pods. Major hospitals like St Thomas' Hospital

:57:48. > :57:53.Du train for incidents like this, terror attacks like this in the

:57:54. > :57:58.capital. They are always on alert. Indeed. What is quite interesting

:57:59. > :58:01.is, we don't know the nature of many of the other injuries but while some

:58:02. > :58:06.people are being treated less than 200 yards away from the bridge, such

:58:07. > :58:09.as the apparent severity and nature of the other injuries, that those

:58:10. > :58:13.people have been taken across the city to Kings College Hospital. We

:58:14. > :58:16.know there has been one fatality so far, hopefully there will be no more

:58:17. > :58:25.but they are very concerned about the severity of the other

:58:26. > :58:32.casualties. Thank you. We can talk to John Woodcock MP, who heard the

:58:33. > :58:43.gunshots earlier on this afternoon. What can you tell us? Like many of

:58:44. > :58:51.us, I'm currently waiting in a part of the Palace, while we are on

:58:52. > :58:59.lockdown. As with every vote, there was a crowd of MPs, who were making

:59:00. > :59:06.their way along the corridor of what is called the Colonnade, on our way

:59:07. > :59:14.to the lobbies. There were many people still inside but we were

:59:15. > :59:19.among the last. We just heard the shots ring out very clearly, which

:59:20. > :59:25.it does sound from the report actually came from one of the

:59:26. > :59:32.security people keeping us safe in the Palace. Suddenly we were being

:59:33. > :59:37.shouted at to run in the opposite direction, which obviously everyone

:59:38. > :59:44.did very quickly, except as you will have seen, Tobias Ellwood, who we

:59:45. > :59:50.saw going in the opposite direction. Huge credit to him for what he seems

:59:51. > :59:58.to have been able to do in helping the injured police man. That was

:59:59. > :00:05.John Woodcock. We can also hear from David Davis MP as well on what he

:00:06. > :00:10.witnessed. I was walking, I was in the area where the incident

:00:11. > :00:19.happened. We walked over to vote and we heard gunshots very nearby, and

:00:20. > :00:28.dropped to the floor. People ran fit shelter and safety. That's about all

:00:29. > :00:33.I know. We were then told to go and wait for instructions which have now

:00:34. > :00:38.come, which is that we've all now gathered in a particular area. I

:00:39. > :00:46.suspect we'll be here for quite a while now. While the area gets

:00:47. > :00:50.secured. There are inevitably at times like this conflicting reports

:00:51. > :00:55.of what happened, and what continues to happen. Have you heard any

:00:56. > :01:04.suggestion that there was more than one assailant in this incident? To

:01:05. > :01:09.be honest, all I can say is, the only thing I saw for myself, as I

:01:10. > :01:13.was walking through with Grant Shapps, we were walking and we heard

:01:14. > :01:23.shouting. We were near Palace Yard. We heard shouting. It sounded a bit

:01:24. > :01:28.different, I vaguely looked round. The next thing we heard at least one

:01:29. > :01:34.shot. I thought, that can't be for real. And then more shots. I can't

:01:35. > :01:39.remember exactly if I was shouting get down, everyone got down on the

:01:40. > :01:49.floor. People started moving, I waited for the shots to stop. I was

:01:50. > :01:52.behind a pillar. I just took a chance and run back to portcullis

:01:53. > :01:58.house. I just didn't know what was going on. If somebody was in the

:01:59. > :02:05.area with a gun I wasn't in a good place. I'm hearing that maybe it was

:02:06. > :02:13.a police officer who fired, I just don't know. We are hearing at

:02:14. > :02:17.Westminster that the French Prime Minister has just announced that a

:02:18. > :02:21.number of French students were among the casualties on Westminster

:02:22. > :02:26.Bridge. We know a number of people were run down by the vehicle as it

:02:27. > :02:30.drove at high speed across Westminster Bridge. There were

:02:31. > :02:33.reports from some eyewitnesses that on the bridge, obviously many

:02:34. > :02:37.tourists all the time on that bridge, but they were a group of

:02:38. > :02:42.French students. That has now been confirmed by the French Prime

:02:43. > :02:46.Minister, that they are among the casualties. We'll bring you more on

:02:47. > :02:50.that. We don't have their ages or how many of them yet but we know a

:02:51. > :02:54.number of people on the bridge were run down by that vehicle. It

:02:55. > :02:59.appears, according to the French Prime Minister, a number of them

:03:00. > :03:05.were French students possibly an a school or college trip to London. We

:03:06. > :03:11.can also hear from another eyewitness who is Geoffrey

:03:12. > :03:17.Clifton-Brown MP, who was evacuated from his office during an interview

:03:18. > :03:28.when it happened earlier on today. Hello. Hello? Hello, thank you for

:03:29. > :03:35.being with us. Can you tell us what you saw and heard today? What

:03:36. > :03:38.happened was, a vote was called, we were all going towards the main

:03:39. > :03:43.building, suddenly a group of colleagues were coming towards us

:03:44. > :03:46.saying there have been shots. We turned around and ran back into

:03:47. > :03:55.Portcullis House. I went straight back into my office. My staff saw

:03:56. > :03:59.exactly what happened. What happened was that a four-wheel drive vehicle,

:04:00. > :04:05.we think being driven by one person only, had ramped several groups of

:04:06. > :04:10.protesters along Westminster Bridge, finally ended up running two

:04:11. > :04:14.pedestrians by the railings leading to New Palace Yard. One person only,

:04:15. > :04:23.we believe, got out of a car with knives, attacked a police man and

:04:24. > :04:32.then was fairly soon afterwards shot by another policeman. Thereafter the

:04:33. > :04:40.ambulance and Fire Services, there were a lot of policemen on the

:04:41. > :04:46.scene. Very quickly indeed. We are here at the cord and at Westminster.

:04:47. > :04:51.London Fire Brigade operational support unit just driving past us

:04:52. > :04:55.towards the Palace of Westminster. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a very

:04:56. > :05:00.shocking incident today, a number of casualties, what are your thoughts

:05:01. > :05:03.this evening? I'm particularly concerned about my staff who

:05:04. > :05:08.witnessed the whole thing, which is deeply upsetting. Of course

:05:09. > :05:12.immediately after it happened we informed our families we were safe.

:05:13. > :05:16.We are all shocked. At the moment quite a number of staff and MPs are

:05:17. > :05:20.locked right in the middle of Parliament. We don't know when we

:05:21. > :05:25.are going to be allowed out but this is clearly very concerning, and I'm

:05:26. > :05:29.sure there will be lots of debriefing and people will be

:05:30. > :05:39.wondering how to tighten security in future to deal with this sort of

:05:40. > :05:43.incident again. SIRENS Thank you very much indeed, Geoffrey

:05:44. > :05:47.Clifton-Brown MP. Let's hear from another eyewitness to what happened

:05:48. > :05:54.this afternoon, Kevin Schofield told us what he saw. We were first

:05:55. > :06:01.alerted something had happened when we heard a loud bang like a car

:06:02. > :06:06.crash. We looked at the window, and it was pretty chaotic. There where

:06:07. > :06:18.people running about shouting. I looked to my left towards the

:06:19. > :06:21.garden, they saw a man forcing his way through. He attacked a police

:06:22. > :06:26.officer, the police officer went down. Another police officer came to

:06:27. > :06:29.his aid and then be assailant got up with his arm outstretched, he had

:06:30. > :06:44.something in his hand which I'm guessing was a knife. I couldn't

:06:45. > :06:48.quite see what happened. I heard gunfire and then obviously that's

:06:49. > :06:53.when I realised something very serious had happened. That's Kevin

:06:54. > :06:57.Schofield, an eyewitness. I'm joined at the edge of the police called in

:06:58. > :07:02.at Westminster by our political correspondent who has been here all

:07:03. > :07:06.afternoon. MPs and peers were in lockdown, what happened to them now?

:07:07. > :07:10.I understand there were about 500 people in Westminster Hall, one of

:07:11. > :07:14.the main, biggest dreams in the Palace of Westminster. They were

:07:15. > :07:20.being kept back by police. -- biggest rooms. They've been taken

:07:21. > :07:24.across the road, they've left the Palace of Westminster and been taken

:07:25. > :07:29.into Westminster Abbey. It's ten minutes on the other side of the

:07:30. > :07:35.road. I've been told by an MP in there that there are 1000 people

:07:36. > :07:38.inside Westminster Abbey, and the MP said they are expected to be in

:07:39. > :07:43.there for at least 90 minutes. They are being addressed by a senior

:07:44. > :07:46.police officer. Among those in the Palace of Westminster was the Prime

:07:47. > :07:50.Minister who was escorted straight to Downing Street when it happened.

:07:51. > :07:55.We've heard witness reports she was apparently bundled into a silver

:07:56. > :07:58.car. She was taken from the Palace of Westminster back to number 10

:07:59. > :08:03.Downing Street where we understand she has been updated. We've also

:08:04. > :08:10.been told the Prime Minister will tonight to a meeting of Cobra, the

:08:11. > :08:13.highest possible meeting of all the authorities in government, but

:08:14. > :08:17.across Whitehall too. Those in charge of security for the capital,

:08:18. > :08:21.and across the country. The prime adjustable chair a Cobra meeting

:08:22. > :08:26.tonight and will be updated and be giving the latest to those

:08:27. > :08:31.top-level. Very intense security at the Palace of Westminster usually,

:08:32. > :08:33.but obviously when this attack happened it took everyone by

:08:34. > :08:37.surprise but the police have been commended for acting very quickly

:08:38. > :08:41.and bravely. If you working Westminster you are used to seeing

:08:42. > :08:46.police that the tube, outside all the main entrances to Westminster,

:08:47. > :08:49.and of course inside the Palace. This afternoon, since the incident

:08:50. > :08:57.happened at around lunchtime, obviously numbers of police and lots

:08:58. > :09:01.up plainclothes policemen too. More and more police have been arriving

:09:02. > :09:06.in different fans, ambulances too. We've seen police dogs as well.

:09:07. > :09:14.Security wise it's the least busy part of London, the tourists and

:09:15. > :09:17.traffic, but when this kind of thing happens everything stops. The cord

:09:18. > :09:20.and has been moved further and further away and now it is about 300

:09:21. > :09:25.metres from where everything happened. We are hearing that the

:09:26. > :09:31.Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood, who I know quite well, he

:09:32. > :09:35.apparently gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to one of the police

:09:36. > :09:40.officers who was injured, who we are hearing has since died of his

:09:41. > :09:43.injuries. This was the Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood, a

:09:44. > :09:46.minister at the Foreign Office for a number of years he gave

:09:47. > :09:54.mouth-to-mouth to a police officer who has now died. I suppose that

:09:55. > :09:55.shows how this terror attack, a government minister involved right

:09:56. > :10:05.at the heart of it. Yes, we have seen images of Tobias

:10:06. > :10:08.Ellwood giving first aid to a body lying on the floor. The police and

:10:09. > :10:12.MPs and members of staff, people that work in the kitchens, the

:10:13. > :10:15.cleaners, everybody has been involved in this incident and an MP

:10:16. > :10:18.I spoke to said they were being asked to stay in a corridor below

:10:19. > :10:23.Parliament, they were being kept there with all sorts of members of

:10:24. > :10:26.staff, so it is not just MPs obviously inside Westminster, there

:10:27. > :10:37.is the public to deal with too. Jeremy Corbyn has put out a

:10:38. > :10:39.statement saying his hearts and best wishes go out to those injured,

:10:40. > :10:42.banking and praising the police for the work they have been doing. And

:10:43. > :10:44.pretty soon after the incident occurred, the House was sitting, MPs

:10:45. > :10:47.were in the chamber, the Leader of the House of Commons gave a

:10:48. > :10:52.statement to the House saying in incident was ongoing, a policeman

:10:53. > :10:58.who had been injured, we now he has subsequently died -- we know. MPs

:10:59. > :11:01.were not allowed to leave the Commons, as soon as Westminster went

:11:02. > :11:04.into lockdown, the chamber was locked and none of the politicians

:11:05. > :11:11.can matter that could leave the chamber and no one could go. Still

:11:12. > :11:14.really intense activity here, all of the streets sealed off by police

:11:15. > :11:20.tape and officers stopping people from moving around. We are at the

:11:21. > :11:24.urge of the cord, you can hear the sirens, helicopters moving around,

:11:25. > :11:29.ambulances coming down to the left as well, so really intense activity.

:11:30. > :11:33.The police had been asked whether this incident was officially over,

:11:34. > :11:38.but they didn't want to speculate at all on whether or not it is over and

:11:39. > :11:43.as you were hearing Alan are saying, about 1,000 MPs, peers and

:11:44. > :11:47.Parliamentary staff moved from the Palace of Westminster in the last

:11:48. > :11:50.hour or so to Westminster Abbey, to the safety of Westminster Abbey,

:11:51. > :11:54.where they are being protected. That is the latest, back to you in the

:11:55. > :11:57.studio. Yankee, Ben Brown there at

:11:58. > :12:02.Westminster and just to reiterate that use that they brought us in the

:12:03. > :12:07.last few minutes, the BBC understanding that one of the police

:12:08. > :12:12.officers injured in this incident at Westminster this afternoon has died.

:12:13. > :12:16.We know that one woman had died, we heard that earlier, just a little

:12:17. > :12:20.earlier in the afternoon, died of her injuries on Westminster Bridge

:12:21. > :12:26.and now we are hearing that a police officer has died as well in this

:12:27. > :12:30.incident in Westminster, in the heart of London, that the

:12:31. > :12:36.Metropolitan police are treating as a terrorist incident at this stage.

:12:37. > :12:39.Just worth telling you that the Met has in fact told us it will be

:12:40. > :12:46.giving another news briefing, actually relatively soon, around

:12:47. > :12:50.about perhaps five to the hour, so we will have more details from the

:12:51. > :12:55.Met, but that is coming up in the next little while, so more details

:12:56. > :13:02.from the Metropolitan police. We have also had some pictures in from

:13:03. > :13:06.the tourist that have been released, filmed from that area around

:13:07. > :13:07.Parliament. Let's just see these pictures, this amateur footage that

:13:08. > :13:23.has come in recently. they had shot him. He came running

:13:24. > :14:07.down there. So that footage, filmed we are told

:14:08. > :14:12.by a Taiwanese tourist, who was clearly right there by the Houses of

:14:13. > :14:17.Parliament at the time of that incident a few hours ago now in

:14:18. > :14:20.Westminster. The sense of panic, people running, that you saw at the

:14:21. > :14:23.start of the footage, that just gives you a sense of the panic at

:14:24. > :14:29.the time and it is really hard to overstate just what an incredibly

:14:30. > :14:33.crowded part of the capital it is. That whole area around the Palace of

:14:34. > :14:38.Westminster, the Commons, the Lords, that whole area is always thronged

:14:39. > :14:42.with tourists in particular. A lot of people working there of course,

:14:43. > :14:47.Monday to Friday, but seven days a week, that area is so full of

:14:48. > :14:51.tourists, almost all year round and people running, not understanding

:14:52. > :14:55.what is going on, hearing shots and, again, this footage shot by a

:14:56. > :15:01.tourist that has been sent to us gives you a sense of the fear and

:15:02. > :15:02.confusion at the time. It really is an extremely busy and popular part

:15:03. > :15:16.of the capital. They shot him. Well, we are waiting

:15:17. > :15:21.for another news conference from the Metropolitan police, perhaps in the

:15:22. > :15:25.next 15 minutes or so, but the Met has been updating journalists fairly

:15:26. > :15:27.regularly over the last few hours as to their understanding of the

:15:28. > :15:33.incident. Let's just hear the little bits we have heard in the last hour

:15:34. > :15:37.from Commander BJ Harrington, from London's Metropolitan Police. This

:15:38. > :15:42.is the statement he gave to journalists outside Scotland Yard.

:15:43. > :15:45.Since 2:40pm this afternoon, we have responded to an incident in the area

:15:46. > :15:48.of Parliament Square and the scene a national coordinator has declared

:15:49. > :15:54.this a terrorist incident. Although we remain open-minded to the motive,

:15:55. > :15:58.Ford Transit terrorism investigation is under way. -- a full

:15:59. > :16:01.counterterrorism investigation. This is led by the Met's

:16:02. > :16:03.Counter Terrorism Command. At this stage I will confirm

:16:04. > :16:06.what we know has happened, We received a number of reports,

:16:07. > :16:10.including a person in the river, a car in collision with pedestrians,

:16:11. > :16:13.and a man armed with a knife. Officers were already

:16:14. > :16:15.in the location, as part of routine policing,

:16:16. > :16:17.but immediately additional officers were sent to the scene,

:16:18. > :16:18.including firearms officers. We are working closely

:16:19. > :16:21.with the London Ambulance Service I would like to repeat our request

:16:22. > :16:25.for the public to avoid the following areas:

:16:26. > :16:26.Parliament Square, Whitehall, Victoria Street up to

:16:27. > :16:34.the junction with Broadway, and the Victoria Embankment,

:16:35. > :16:36.up to Embankment Tube Station. This is to allow emergency services

:16:37. > :16:39.to deal with this ongoing incident. There is an ongoing

:16:40. > :16:41.investigation being led by the Counter Terrorism Command,

:16:42. > :16:45.and we would ask anybody who has images or film of the incident

:16:46. > :16:49.to pass those to police. We know there are a number

:16:50. > :16:53.of casualties, including police officers, but at this stage

:16:54. > :16:55.we cannot confirm numbers Our response will be

:16:56. > :17:00.ongoing for some time, it is important we gather

:17:01. > :17:03.all possible information Public safety is our top priority,

:17:04. > :17:09.and we are reviewing our policing stance across London and throughout

:17:10. > :17:13.the capital this afternoon. There will be additional officers

:17:14. > :17:15.on duty and deployed I would like to ask the public

:17:16. > :17:20.to remain vigilant and let us know if they see anything suspicious

:17:21. > :17:23.that causes concern. The Acting Commissioner Craig Mackey

:17:24. > :17:30.is being treated as a significant witness, as he was at the scene

:17:31. > :17:35.when the incident started. Whilst he isn't injured,

:17:36. > :17:38.it would be inappropriate for him to be here to talk

:17:39. > :17:42.about the incident at this stage. Our thoughts and his thoughts

:17:43. > :17:44.are with all of those involved and responding

:17:45. > :17:50.to the incident this evening. I would stress, if the public have

:17:51. > :18:00.any information or see I would stress, if the public have

:18:01. > :18:05.any information or see anything suspicious,

:18:06. > :18:06.dial 999 immediately. I'm not going to speculate,

:18:07. > :18:10.you'll see the response, I want to stress it is our priority

:18:11. > :18:14.to keep London safe. People going home will see

:18:15. > :18:16.additional officers deployed across London in order

:18:17. > :18:20.to achieve that aim. I've told you what information

:18:21. > :18:39.I have, and I will continue Well, that was the news briefing by

:18:40. > :18:44.the Metropolitan police in the last hour and we are expecting another

:18:45. > :18:48.press statement from the Met perhaps within the next ten or 15 minutes,

:18:49. > :18:53.so we will bring you back and just to reiterate what we know so far, if

:18:54. > :18:56.you are just joining us here, one woman has died, one member of the

:18:57. > :19:03.public has died and one police officer has died in the incident in

:19:04. > :19:12.Westminster in central London, which began at about 20 to three in the

:19:13. > :19:15.afternoon local time. Let's just say again that footage which has been

:19:16. > :19:20.sent to us in the last little while, it was filmed by a tourist from very

:19:21. > :19:22.close to the Houses of Parliament, to Big Ben. As you will see, this is

:19:23. > :19:44.filmed by a Taiwanese tourist. And again, you get a sense there of

:19:45. > :19:47.the panic, people running across the street, a very wide, busy street but

:19:48. > :19:51.nevertheless, people just running when they heard those shots.

:19:52. > :19:55.Confusion, people not understanding what was happening. It is an

:19:56. > :20:17.extremely busy and crowded part of the capital.

:20:18. > :20:25.That footage sent to us by a Taiwanese tourist, who was very

:20:26. > :20:31.close to the Houses of Parliament. Let's talk now to the Labour MP Toby

:20:32. > :20:34.Perkins, who joins me on the phone. Thank you so much for joining us. I

:20:35. > :20:40.don't know whether you are even in a position to explain where you are,

:20:41. > :20:43.perhaps you can just summarise for our audience what's happening, what

:20:44. > :20:50.is happening to you and so many of your colleagues at the moment? At

:20:51. > :20:56.about a quarter to three, the bell went across Parliament to tell us

:20:57. > :21:01.there was the vote, so the majority of the 650 MPs will have travelled

:21:02. > :21:08.across Parliamentary estate to the chamber where the vote was taking

:21:09. > :21:14.place. I walked over from portcullis house to the House of Commons, where

:21:15. > :21:18.we would have walked right next to Para Shard but completely unaware of

:21:19. > :21:23.the incident going on. We came into the lobby to vote and as we came out

:21:24. > :21:26.of the lobby, having voted, we were told we were unable to leave the

:21:27. > :21:32.House of Commons and it was unlocked them because of the serious

:21:33. > :21:38.incident. I am now in the lobby, where I reckon about 400, 300-400

:21:39. > :21:44.MPs are located in the Commons chamber or the lobby. Obviously,

:21:45. > :21:49.there is a deep sense of shock at the news that a police officer has

:21:50. > :21:53.lost his life, we are all very conscious of the professionalism of

:21:54. > :21:57.the police and the bravery of the police on this occasion and always,

:21:58. > :22:04.so I think it is a pretty sombre mood at that news. Of course. Do you

:22:05. > :22:10.and all of those hundreds of colleagues that you are therewith,

:22:11. > :22:15.do you safe at this stage? Well, obviously we are very conscious that

:22:16. > :22:20.this is a very, very significant, co-ordinated terrorist attack and so

:22:21. > :22:26.we are very confident in the ability of the police to do all they can,

:22:27. > :22:31.but you can't underestimate that the incident may not be over yet. I

:22:32. > :22:41.think we are all conscious of that, there is obviously a bit of an

:22:42. > :22:44.uneasy feeling, alongside the sombre realisation that an officer of the

:22:45. > :22:50.law turned up to work this morning and isn't going to be going home.

:22:51. > :22:54.And a huge number of staff worked there with you, it is not just MPs

:22:55. > :22:57.and members of the Lords, there is a huge number of support staff.

:22:58. > :23:04.Perhaps people who were there as parts of a tour, people just looking

:23:05. > :23:10.around the building. Do you have any sense of how long you will be held

:23:11. > :23:14.there? No idea about that, that is not an important matter in the

:23:15. > :23:19.context of everything else. I am told that the Prime Minister Theresa

:23:20. > :23:25.May was in voting at the time but she was whisked away by armed

:23:26. > :23:32.officers, and left the Palace of Westminster straightaway. The rest

:23:33. > :23:38.of us are here and we'll be here until we are told the police want us

:23:39. > :23:42.to move. Toby Perkins, the Labour MP, thank you very much your time

:23:43. > :23:48.this evening, thank you for joining us. Toby Perkins explaining that he

:23:49. > :23:51.is still inside Parliament and he estimated 300-400 MPs are certainly

:23:52. > :23:56.in the part of Parliament where he is. Just to bring you some reaction

:23:57. > :24:00.to everything that has been happening here in London from the

:24:01. > :24:02.United States, we are just hearing a brief statement from the White

:24:03. > :24:10.House, the White House saying that President Trump has spoken to

:24:11. > :24:13.Theresa May about this attack here this Wednesday afternoon, so

:24:14. > :24:19.President Donald Trump has spoken to the British Prime Minister Theresa

:24:20. > :24:22.May about this attack. One imagines there will be a few more comments

:24:23. > :24:27.and details coming through from the White House, but that is the latest

:24:28. > :24:31.statement there from the White House in Washington at the moment. Also,

:24:32. > :24:35.there is an update from the Scottish parliament. This, of course, was

:24:36. > :24:38.meant to be a hugely important and significant day there with the

:24:39. > :24:44.second day of the debate inside the Scottish Parliament, but proceedings

:24:45. > :24:47.there were suspended once it became aware of what was going on in

:24:48. > :24:52.Westminster. A statement from the presiding officer, the Right

:24:53. > :24:56.Honourable Ken Macintosh MSP saying that members of all parties

:24:57. > :25:00.represented in this Parliament want to join me in expressing our

:25:01. > :25:04.heartfelt sympathy for all those affected by the tragic events at

:25:05. > :25:08.Westminster. Parliamentary business at Holyrood was suspended this

:25:09. > :25:14.afternoon for the remainder of the day and in a nod to that debate that

:25:15. > :25:17.I mentioned, saying, no matter how significant our debate might be, to

:25:18. > :25:22.have continued further would not have been appropriate. Parliamentary

:25:23. > :25:27.business will proceed tomorrow. So that is the latest statement from

:25:28. > :25:30.the Scottish parliament at Holyrood. So, for now, let's return to

:25:31. > :25:36.Westminster itself and let's go back to my colleague Ben Brown.

:25:37. > :25:41.Jane, yes, still huge police activity all around us here. We are

:25:42. > :25:45.on the very edge of a police cordon, you can probably hear all of sirens,

:25:46. > :25:50.police cars racing around us all the time and helicopters in the sky. The

:25:51. > :25:54.latest information we now have is that two people have died, a woman

:25:55. > :26:00.who seems to have died on Westminster Bridge as that vehicle,

:26:01. > :26:04.we now think driven by two men, ran into a number of people on the

:26:05. > :26:08.bridge, at least ten casualties according to the London ambulance.

:26:09. > :26:12.They say they treated ten casualties, one woman died. We think

:26:13. > :26:15.one woman also went into the River Thames, who was then pulled out of

:26:16. > :26:21.the river alive but with serious injuries. More police just going

:26:22. > :26:25.down towards the Palace of Westminster right now. So two people

:26:26. > :26:30.dead and also, the police officer who was stabbed in the attack as

:26:31. > :26:34.well and then given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by the Conservative MP

:26:35. > :26:38.and Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood has also now died. Tobias

:26:39. > :26:43.Ellwood, who was seen giving mouth-to-mouth to that police

:26:44. > :26:48.officer, who emerged with blood on his clothes, having tried to stem

:26:49. > :26:51.the flow of blood from that police officer, but that police officer has

:26:52. > :26:56.now died and we gather that a number of the people on the bridge who were

:26:57. > :27:00.injured were schoolchildren from France, from Brittany, according to

:27:01. > :27:10.the French Prime Minister. Three of them were French schoolchildren on

:27:11. > :27:13.some sort of school trip, hit by that vehicle on Westminster Bridge

:27:14. > :27:16.and we have had a statement from the French embassy in London saying

:27:17. > :27:19.terrorism concerns us all, France knows how the British people are

:27:20. > :27:24.suffering today. That just in from the French embassy. Eleanor Garnier

:27:25. > :27:30.is with me here at Westminster and we know that the MPs and peers who

:27:31. > :27:34.were in lockdown as soon as this happen, they have now been moved to

:27:35. > :27:38.Westminster Abbey. That's right, as soon as the incident happened and

:27:39. > :27:41.police to control the situation, Westminster went into lockdown. MPs

:27:42. > :27:46.were even locked inside the chamber and I don't know if they have been

:27:47. > :27:49.let out. A lot of people were moved into Westminster Hall, it is one of

:27:50. > :27:52.the biggest parts of Westminster. About 20 minutes ago, they were

:27:53. > :27:58.moved across the road into Westminster Abbey and I understand

:27:59. > :28:00.from one of the MPs inside Westminster Abbey that there are

:28:01. > :28:04.1,000 people in there. This MP told me they are expected to be in there

:28:05. > :28:09.for around 90 minutes. They are being given a briefing by a senior

:28:10. > :28:12.police officer. It is not clear yet whether those MPs will be asked for

:28:13. > :28:16.information, perhaps they may be able to help with the incident,

:28:17. > :28:21.which we now know is a serious anti-terrorism operation that is

:28:22. > :28:24.going on. The Prime Minister, we gather, was in the Palace of

:28:25. > :28:28.Westminster and was escorted very quickly back to Downing Street and

:28:29. > :28:32.she is about to chair a meeting with COBRA, the emergency committee. The

:28:33. > :28:35.Prime Minister was in the House of Commons, in Parliament. Some

:28:36. > :28:40.witnesses say she was bundled very quickly into her car, which then

:28:41. > :28:44.sped off towards Number Ten. She has been there all afternoon, being

:28:45. > :28:48.briefed, getting the latest information. She is going to be

:28:49. > :28:51.hosting a COBRA meeting, that is the top-level meeting that is pull

:28:52. > :28:57.together when serious incidents happen. There will be not just

:28:58. > :29:01.politicians there but senior people from across Whitehall and also from

:29:02. > :29:04.the security services and the Metropolitan Police as well, so the

:29:05. > :29:14.most senior people will be at that COBRA meeting and I am sure, as we

:29:15. > :29:16.heard from David Lidington, the Leader of the House of Commons,

:29:17. > :29:19.pretty much imminently when this incident happened, he said the

:29:20. > :29:21.police were taking control of the situation and he was very sad that

:29:22. > :29:28.one police officer had been injured, we know no -- now know that police

:29:29. > :29:31.officer did sadly died. In terms of security over the Palace of

:29:32. > :29:34.Westminster, it has been increased hugely over the years

:29:35. > :29:39.understandably, but you can't stop an attack of this kind, really. If

:29:40. > :29:42.you work in Westminster, like I do, but for people who work in offices

:29:43. > :29:47.around here, we are very used to seeing police on the entrance and

:29:48. > :29:52.exit stop Palace of Westminster, armed police around virtue and it is

:29:53. > :29:56.not unusual to see police officers walking around inside Parliament but

:29:57. > :30:03.since this ebb back the late incident, we have seen police car --

:30:04. > :30:09.since this incident. Some art, some unmarked, ambulances, police dogs

:30:10. > :30:14.and a serious incident fire brigade unit as well. The police operation

:30:15. > :30:17.has massively stepped up and the longer we got after the incident,

:30:18. > :30:22.the further and further away the cordon was pushed, and we are now

:30:23. > :30:25.300 metres from the Palace of Westminster and there are flashing

:30:26. > :30:28.blue lights behind us but it is some distance now that we are from the

:30:29. > :30:33.Palace of Westminster and where the incident happened. As I was saying,

:30:34. > :30:36.Tobias Ellwood, the junior minister in the Foreign Office, the fact he

:30:37. > :30:39.was so closely involved, trying to save the life of this policeman,

:30:40. > :30:45.just shows this was really the heart of Westminster. That's right.

:30:46. > :30:49.Westminster is the centre of London, if you like, there are always lots

:30:50. > :30:52.of tourists, it is a key spot to have your photograph taken but it is

:30:53. > :30:56.always busy because of where it is. Right in the centre, there is always

:30:57. > :31:00.masses of traffic but inside the palace to, you don't just have MPs

:31:01. > :31:04.and peers. There are hundreds of people who helped to keep this place

:31:05. > :31:07.going, people who looked after the kitchens and the cleaners and

:31:08. > :31:13.everybody who works closely together inside the palace. We are just going

:31:14. > :31:17.to try and show you, over on that side of the road, you might be able

:31:18. > :31:22.to see some schoolchildren who are being escorted away from the Palace

:31:23. > :31:24.of Westminster by the police. Obviously a very traumatic day,

:31:25. > :31:31.confusing and bewildering, no doubt, for them, to have been caught up in

:31:32. > :31:36.all of this chaos. I don't know how long they have been here but of

:31:37. > :31:39.course, Westminster, as you were saying, is very much a centre for

:31:40. > :31:48.tourists to come, to have their picture taken around Parliament,

:31:49. > :31:56.so... Let's just bring back in Eleanor Garnier, my colleague,

:31:57. > :32:02.political correspondent. Westminster is so, such a busy place over time,

:32:03. > :32:06.not just politicians but tourists, people coming to have a look at

:32:07. > :32:09.Westminster. And school trips as well and there is a relatively

:32:10. > :32:14.recently opened visitors centre and that is perhaps where these young

:32:15. > :32:17.people, these pupils have been. It was "Recently, it gives people a

:32:18. > :32:21.chance to find out what Westminster is all about and there are always

:32:22. > :32:26.school trips, coming to learn about democracy and the way Westminster

:32:27. > :32:32.works, so it is not just MPs and peers that will have caught up in

:32:33. > :32:34.this extremely serious incident, it is members of the public,

:32:35. > :32:38.schoolchildren, as we have seen but also other staff inside the Palace

:32:39. > :32:42.of Westminster. There will be people who have friends and family members

:32:43. > :32:46.who work in the palace who will have been worried this afternoon, worried

:32:47. > :32:49.about the safety of everybody inside the Palace of Westminster. MPs I

:32:50. > :32:53.have been speaking to have been praising the police, praising how

:32:54. > :32:57.quickly they acted and managing to close down the situation as we

:32:58. > :33:01.understand it. I understand MPs were told to stay in the rooms they were

:33:02. > :33:05.in, move away from the windows and gradually, as time went on, they

:33:06. > :33:09.were moved to be in big groups together and eventually into

:33:10. > :33:14.Westminster Hall, where I am told there were around 500 people. And

:33:15. > :33:18.around half an hour ago, I understand 500 people, MPs included,

:33:19. > :33:21.were moved into Westminster Abbey and understanding perhaps that they

:33:22. > :33:26.were going to be questioned or interviewed by police, maybe giving

:33:27. > :33:29.witness statements. There are apparently 1,000 people inside

:33:30. > :33:32.Westminster Abbey, an MP told me and they said they expected to be in

:33:33. > :33:38.there for around 90 minutes being briefed by police officers. In terms

:33:39. > :33:42.of security, again, there will have to be a review of security, which

:33:43. > :33:47.has already been increased in recent years around Westminster. Of course,

:33:48. > :33:51.if somebody wants to attack a key spot, in any capital, obviously the

:33:52. > :33:55.heart of its democracy is going to be an obvious place but there is a

:33:56. > :33:58.high level of security here. There are armed officers on the entrances

:33:59. > :34:03.and excellence at Westminster and even as someone who works here all

:34:04. > :34:06.the time, I have a past that has to be cleared, security clearances and

:34:07. > :34:12.all that kind of thing so I am sure it will be looked at again. And

:34:13. > :34:16.where the knife attack happened with the police officer, the Palace Yard,

:34:17. > :34:19.tell us where that is inside the grounds of the Palace of

:34:20. > :34:23.Westminster. It is an area that is behind the railings, if you like.

:34:24. > :34:26.There are high railings and entrances forecast to come in and

:34:27. > :34:31.out of Westminster and armed police are always on that entrance and

:34:32. > :34:35.Exeter and the that come up out of the pavement, so cars that go in are

:34:36. > :34:40.checked and they are able to come out again. There is a car park

:34:41. > :34:44.inside Westminster. So the road between there, where the car appears

:34:45. > :34:48.to have crashed up onto the pavement, the road there is the road

:34:49. > :34:50.between where the MPs have their offices, a building called

:34:51. > :34:55.Portcullis House, a relatively modern building but it is a real

:34:56. > :34:58.heart of where MPs gather and meet and talk to each other and

:34:59. > :35:04.journalists. That is where their offices are and they are able to get

:35:05. > :35:06.from Portcullis House into the Palace of Westminster Underground,

:35:07. > :35:10.so they don't always have to cross the road, but clearly this attack

:35:11. > :35:15.has happened in the most central part of Westminster. And for all

:35:16. > :35:19.those living and working around here, traumatic day. Just to hear

:35:20. > :35:22.gunshots. I know people thought it might be a car backfiring, couldn't

:35:23. > :35:27.quite believe this might be some sort of attack. I spoke to somebody

:35:28. > :35:32.who works for an MP straightaway, they said they heard what they

:35:33. > :35:35.thought were three gunshots being fired and of course, this doesn't

:35:36. > :35:40.just impact those inside the palace. I have been here all afternoon and

:35:41. > :35:42.as the journalists have been arriving, you have seen

:35:43. > :35:46.schoolchildren leaving school and trying to get home, members of the

:35:47. > :35:51.public asking what is happening, and tourist saying we wanted to see

:35:52. > :35:54.Parliament, what is going on? The traffic, of course, has been

:35:55. > :35:59.stacking up as well because the buses, they have been trying to get

:36:00. > :36:02.through a really busy junction, Westminster and Parliament Square,

:36:03. > :36:05.so this is going to have a very big impact, as people start to begin

:36:06. > :36:10.their journeys home this evening. And we don't actually know this is

:36:11. > :36:14.over. It happened a while ago but it hasn't been declared over, although

:36:15. > :36:21.we have seen a number of people leaving the area, leaving the cord.

:36:22. > :36:25.We did see two, I think it was ambulances, leaving the area. Other

:36:26. > :36:29.than that, we have continued to see more and more police vehicles

:36:30. > :36:32.arriving. A Fire Brigade special unit as well, so certainly the

:36:33. > :36:36.numbers and police activity here has been going up, it has not been

:36:37. > :36:41.decreasing, so as to whether the incident is completely over or not,

:36:42. > :36:45.we simply do not know but MPs have been telling us they are impressed

:36:46. > :41:10.and appreciating how quickly... Here we are, some

:41:11. > :41:15.to us, I urge them to get in touch. A crime scene will remain in place

:41:16. > :41:19.in affected areas in Westminster and it's vital we carry out a

:41:20. > :41:26.painstaking investigation to recover all possible evidence. Looking

:41:27. > :41:29.forward, throughout the rest of the day, including where people are

:41:30. > :41:35.commuting home, and over the days that followed, the people of London

:41:36. > :41:38.will see extra police officers armed and unarmed on our streets. This

:41:39. > :41:45.includes officers working long hours and extra shifts. As you are aware,

:41:46. > :41:49.we can call on the support of the military should we need to add a

:41:50. > :41:52.future point. We are also in the process of opening our casualty

:41:53. > :41:56.bureau to help those people worried about friends and family who may

:41:57. > :41:59.have been caught up in the attack. Furthermore, we are reaching out to

:42:00. > :42:03.communities and community leaders across London to reassure them. Our

:42:04. > :42:06.strength as a city depends on our ability to stand together at such

:42:07. > :42:11.terrible times. If anyone sees anything suspicious, or anything

:42:12. > :42:16.that causes concern, do contact us, don't hesitate. My thoughts are with

:42:17. > :42:21.all of those who have been affected by today's attack, and as a service

:42:22. > :42:25.we've lost one of our as he acted to protect the public and his

:42:26. > :42:31.colleagues. This is a day we planned for but we hoped would never happen.

:42:32. > :42:34.Sadly, it is now a reality. We will continue to protect the people of

:42:35. > :42:45.London. I will take questions. the people of London. I will take

:42:46. > :42:51.some questions. Have any other arrests being made? There is an

:42:52. > :42:55.operation is ongoing and I will not discuss sensitivities of that

:42:56. > :42:59.operation. The officer attack, was he one of the armed officers that

:43:00. > :43:11.protect Parliament? One of the armed officers, yes. As you will

:43:12. > :43:15.understand, when you have had such an awful incident take place on

:43:16. > :43:19.Westminster Bridge, the reports were confused with varying and differing

:43:20. > :43:25.accounts and we are working our way through that. We are satisfied there

:43:26. > :43:29.was only one attacker, but it would be foolish to be overconfident so

:43:30. > :43:33.early on. So as a precaution, we are locking down the area and doing

:43:34. > :43:48.necessary searches so everyone is safe. What we are saying to the

:43:49. > :43:53.public is, please be vigilant. No reason to be alarmed, be vigilant on

:43:54. > :43:57.your way home. You will see more police officers armed and unarmed on

:43:58. > :44:01.the streets of London. As well as the police officer and the suspected

:44:02. > :44:04.assailant who have died, the other two people, did they die on

:44:05. > :44:11.Westminster Bridge or in the Parliament attack? Casualty numbers

:44:12. > :44:16.and details can be confused, but I believe they died on the bridge. One

:44:17. > :44:20.more question. Our investigation is now going forward. I will not give

:44:21. > :44:25.you any details about the attacker for obvious reasons. Can you tell us

:44:26. > :44:32.about the officer? We have an awful situation that an officer has been

:44:33. > :44:37.killed, people sat with his family and it would be awful for me to give

:44:38. > :44:42.details now. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley confirming that four

:44:43. > :44:46.people died in this attack in Westminster this afternoon. Four

:44:47. > :44:52.people he believes, including the attacker. He says he has confidence

:44:53. > :44:57.that the man believed to be the attacker is dead. 20 people have

:44:58. > :45:03.been injured. It is a significant increase on what we believed

:45:04. > :45:05.previously. Four people have died, including the attacker, the police

:45:06. > :45:11.believe and 20 people have been injured.