:00:09. > :00:12.Tonight at Six - four people have died and 20 are injured
:00:13. > :00:14.after a terror attack in the heart of London.
:00:15. > :00:18.Police were called to the scene just before 3.00pm.
:00:19. > :00:22.We've been piecing together the details since then.
:00:23. > :00:30.Moments of panic, they don't yet know what's happened and then this.
:00:31. > :00:34.The attack began on Westminster Bridge.
:00:35. > :00:36.A vehicle was driven into pedestrians.
:00:37. > :00:47.It is here one person was killed, several others were hit.
:00:48. > :00:51.Paramedics say their injuries are catastrophic.
:00:52. > :00:55.On the other side of the road there was a body and when I looked further
:00:56. > :00:58.When I looked over the side of the bridge,
:00:59. > :01:01.there appeared to be a body in the water as well.
:01:02. > :01:04.This is where the car ended up, crashed into the railing
:01:05. > :01:08.Inside the gates of the Palace of Westminster an attacker
:01:09. > :01:15.was shot by police after he stabbed an officer.
:01:16. > :01:19.This house is now suspended, but please wait here.
:01:20. > :01:21.MPs were told the building was in lockdown.
:01:22. > :01:24.Theresa May was there but security officers got her out.
:01:25. > :01:26.The senior national coordinator had declared this a terrorist incident.
:01:27. > :01:28.And although we remain open-minded to the motive, a full
:01:29. > :01:40.counterterrorism investigation is already underway.
:01:41. > :01:42.And coming up in the sport on BBC News...
:01:43. > :01:44.England manager Garteh Southgate prepares his side to face
:01:45. > :01:45.the World Champions Germany in their friendly
:01:46. > :02:07.Westminster is in a state of emergency tonight,
:02:08. > :02:14.after what the Metropolitan Police described as a terror incident.
:02:15. > :02:23.Four people are known to have died, including an attacker. 20 people
:02:24. > :02:26.have been injured. A police officer was killed inside the Parliamentary
:02:27. > :02:29.grounds, the heart of British democracy.
:02:30. > :02:34.An attacker is reported to have run down several pedestrians
:02:35. > :02:35.on Westminster Bridge before crashing into railings.
:02:36. > :02:41.Others suffered "catastrophic" injuries, according
:02:42. > :02:46.The attacker is then reported to have run through the gates
:02:47. > :02:49.of the Palace of Westminster and stabbed the police officer.
:02:50. > :02:51.In the last few minutes we understand the officer has
:02:52. > :02:55.Eyewitnesses said he was shot by police as he approached a second
:02:56. > :02:59.During the attack, MPs in the House of Commons were told to lie
:03:00. > :03:05.Our first report tonight is from our political editor,
:03:06. > :03:17.Laura Kuenssberg who has been inside parliament.
:03:18. > :03:45.The shouts around the hearts of Westminster. Normally, a safe place.
:03:46. > :03:51.Not today. Members of the public, politicians, the hundreds of staff
:03:52. > :03:55.for whom this is work, in politics, but some, a home from home.
:03:56. > :04:04.Lockdown, a place of danger. Ministers rushed to safety. There
:04:05. > :04:07.are at least a couple of hundred people inside Portcullis House. This
:04:08. > :04:10.is the heart of where Westminster does its business and we're part of
:04:11. > :04:18.a lockdown after what happened outside. A police officer has told
:04:19. > :04:22.me one man was shot at the front, and people heard three of gunshots
:04:23. > :04:28.on their way to vote. This is a place that is tightly guarded at all
:04:29. > :04:33.times, but a sense of shock, finally it appears something so serious has
:04:34. > :04:38.happened right here in the heart of Westminster. Inside, everything
:04:39. > :04:43.clear. Order. I am now going to suspend the sitting of the house.
:04:44. > :04:49.This house is now suspended, but please wait here. Then in a chamber
:04:50. > :04:53.that sat through all sorts of situations, work interrupted. There
:04:54. > :05:02.has been a serious incident within estate. It seems that a police
:05:03. > :05:10.officer has been stabbed. That the alleged assailant was shot by armed
:05:11. > :05:15.police. An air ambulance is currently attending the scene to
:05:16. > :05:23.remove the casualties. There are also reports of further violent
:05:24. > :05:26.incidents in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster, but I hope
:05:27. > :05:32.colleagues on all sides will appreciate, that it will be wrong of
:05:33. > :05:36.me here to go into further details until we have confirmation from the
:05:37. > :05:42.police and from the house security authorities about what is going on.
:05:43. > :05:46.As the seriousness of the attack began to spread, MPs told me they
:05:47. > :05:53.heard three, four gunshots on their way to vote. Others saw with their
:05:54. > :05:58.eyes, from their office windows. We saw a thickset man in black clothes
:05:59. > :06:05.come through the gates into new Palace Yard. New Palace Yard is just
:06:06. > :06:10.below Big Ben. This man had something in his hand, it looked
:06:11. > :06:14.like a stick. He was challenged by a couple of policemen in yellow
:06:15. > :06:19.jackets. One of the policeman fell down. We could see the man in black
:06:20. > :06:23.moving his arm in a way that suggested he was either stabbing or
:06:24. > :06:32.striking the yellow jacketed policeman. One of the policeman ran
:06:33. > :06:38.to get help, which was very, very quick to come. As this attacker was
:06:39. > :06:46.running towards the entrance used by MPs, two plainclothes guys with guns
:06:47. > :06:52.shouted at him, uttered what sounded like a warning. He ignored it and
:06:53. > :06:57.they shot two or three times and he fell. Westminster Bridge, a tourist
:06:58. > :07:04.spot. This afternoon, violence still do it. I heard what I thought was
:07:05. > :07:09.just a collision. And then I looked at the window of the taxi and I saw
:07:10. > :07:15.someone down, obviously in great distress. Then I saw a second person
:07:16. > :07:22.down and I started filming and I saw three more people down, one of them
:07:23. > :07:26.bleeding profusely. So what I saw was an incident involving at least
:07:27. > :07:31.five people seriously injured. I was just walking across the bridge when
:07:32. > :07:36.suddenly a bus stop, people were screaming and came off the bus and
:07:37. > :07:40.they seemed very upset. Then I saw what appeared to be a trainer on the
:07:41. > :07:44.side of the road. On the other side of the road there was a body and
:07:45. > :07:49.when I looked further up, there was another body. On the other side of
:07:50. > :07:53.the bridge, there appeared to be a body in the water as well. A car and
:07:54. > :07:58.driver intent on taking the lives of those who came to see. What is
:07:59. > :08:05.normally a safe circle, the most tightly guarded part of the city,
:08:06. > :08:10.danger and confusion. This afternoon, the police attend an
:08:11. > :08:15.incident and the National coordinator has declared this
:08:16. > :08:22.terrorism incident. Although we are unclear on a terrorism investigation
:08:23. > :08:27.is underway. I will confirm what we know has happened, but I will not
:08:28. > :08:31.speculate. We received a number of different reports which included a
:08:32. > :08:36.person in the river, a car in collision with pedestrians and a man
:08:37. > :08:41.with a knife. Was this one who was responsible? So much is unclear.
:08:42. > :08:44.Police and the government are considering there's attack as the
:08:45. > :08:50.most serious of its kind. One attack to stop democracy, not just
:08:51. > :08:55.politicians who came to work, but hundreds of people to visit and be
:08:56. > :09:01.part of this place. I have been here with a group of students and we are
:09:02. > :09:05.in a building which is close to the Riverside and quite near where the
:09:06. > :09:10.attack took place. We still don't really know what is going on. This
:09:11. > :09:14.group of students was brought here for the day to see how Parliament
:09:15. > :09:18.works. Little did they know what kind of situation would unfold.
:09:19. > :09:22.Frankly, it is really hard to believe what has happened here
:09:23. > :09:27.today. An attack, that in theory, many expected to come to London
:09:28. > :09:32.again one day, but the truth of an event like this in practice, a shock
:09:33. > :09:36.in our parliament, a shock in our country. Whatever the motive, an
:09:37. > :09:38.effort to stop or democracy in its tracks.
:09:39. > :09:45.Let's get more from Laura, who has been in Parliament all day.
:09:46. > :09:51.You just said it is hard to believe what has happened. Let's remember
:09:52. > :09:56.that happened inside and around Parliament, presumably, supposedly
:09:57. > :10:09.one of the most secure places in the country? Laura, I wonder if you can
:10:10. > :10:14.hear me? I was just saying you would think this attack, it happened
:10:15. > :10:16.inside the Parliamentary grounds and outside one of the most secure
:10:17. > :10:26.places in the country? That is right. It is hard to
:10:27. > :10:31.underestimate the fact that this place is in its own secure world.
:10:32. > :10:38.The journalists, the MPs, the staff who work here, probably walk past
:10:39. > :10:43.armed to please a dozen times a day. It seems like a very secure place
:10:44. > :10:47.and a very safe place. Yet just before three o'clock me and many
:10:48. > :10:53.other people heard please men shouting, members of the public
:10:54. > :10:57.being rushed along the riverside. People were rushed in Portcullis
:10:58. > :11:01.House down to one of the emergency exits, right in the heart of the
:11:02. > :11:07.parliament complex, told to move and ran and moved to the main atrium.
:11:08. > :11:11.About half an hour we were moved down to offices around the
:11:12. > :11:16.Parliamentary estate. I am still in one of those offices right in the
:11:17. > :11:20.middle of Parliament. Some people now have been led out of the
:11:21. > :11:25.complex, but there are many of us still here who have been trying to
:11:26. > :11:30.understand what has happened as drips of information have come
:11:31. > :11:35.through. But MPs heard gunshots earlier this afternoon are shocked
:11:36. > :11:42.and bewildered. It is hard to overestimate really how Westminster
:11:43. > :11:46.is in its own world, it is its own community if you like. This
:11:47. > :11:51.afternoon there are many people who can hardly believe what has
:11:52. > :11:57.happened. Thank you, we may come back to you later in the programme.
:11:58. > :12:01.Well in the last few minutes Scotland Yard's top
:12:02. > :12:02.anti-terror officer, acting Deputy Commissioner Mark
:12:03. > :12:06.Rowley , has been giving an update on today's events.
:12:07. > :12:13.We have declared this as a terrorist incident and we are carrying out a
:12:14. > :12:17.full-scale investigation into the events of today. The attacks started
:12:18. > :12:22.when a car was driven over Westminster Bridge hitting and
:12:23. > :12:26.injuring a number of members of the public, including three police
:12:27. > :12:31.officers. The car then crashed near to Parliament and at least one man,
:12:32. > :12:38.armed with a knife, continued the attack and try to enter parliament.
:12:39. > :12:40.Sadly I have to confirm that now four people have died, including the
:12:41. > :12:47.police officer protecting Parliament, one man we believe to be
:12:48. > :12:51.the attackers who were shot by a police firearms officer. The
:12:52. > :12:56.officer's family have been aware. At least 20 people had been injured. My
:12:57. > :13:01.thoughts are with all those who have been affected by today's attack and
:13:02. > :13:05.we have lost one of our own as he acted to protect the public and his
:13:06. > :13:11.colleagues. This is the day we plan for but we hoped would never happen.
:13:12. > :13:16.Sadly it is now a reality. We will continue to do all we can to protect
:13:17. > :13:22.the people of London. The acting Deputy Commissioner, Mark Rowley.
:13:23. > :13:29.Daniel Sanford is that Scotland Yard for us. Presumably this is the kind
:13:30. > :13:35.of incident for which Scotland Yard prepares and rehearses? It has been
:13:36. > :13:39.in everyone's mind that there could be a vehicular attack, an attack on
:13:40. > :13:44.parliament, an attack were police officers could get injured or killed
:13:45. > :13:49.for many months, if not years now. But today it was the reality.
:13:50. > :13:54.Westminster Bridge, just 100 metres in that direction, is a crime scene.
:13:55. > :13:59.Every vehicle is still there, every vehicle that was there at the time
:14:00. > :14:07.of the attack, and forensic officers are poring over the scene, literally
:14:08. > :14:10.metres from Big Ben itself. Just behind the building is old Palace
:14:11. > :14:14.Yard, one of the most important open areas in the Palace of Westminster,
:14:15. > :14:20.where every MP walks through almost every day and that is also a crime
:14:21. > :14:26.scene. We are in the new headquarters of Scotland Yard which
:14:27. > :14:30.is literally 100 metres and the road where the attacker drove goes
:14:31. > :14:33.between New Scotland Yard and the Palace of Westminster. Scotland Yard
:14:34. > :14:37.have lost one of their own officers and they have had to shoot dead man
:14:38. > :14:42.they believed was attacking Parliament and believe they have
:14:43. > :14:47.lost two other people on Westminster Bridge itself as the vehicle mode
:14:48. > :14:52.through tourists, students, school pupils, and people going about their
:14:53. > :14:56.everyday business. The major counterterrorist operation is now
:14:57. > :15:00.under way. That Scotland Yard know that today despite all their
:15:01. > :15:04.preparations, somebody has launched an attack on parliament and it has
:15:05. > :15:09.had some success. There is one question this evening and that is
:15:10. > :15:13.about whether or not this man was a lone attacker or whether there was
:15:14. > :15:18.someone else with him. There are reports of two people in the car and
:15:19. > :15:21.there are reports of a white attacker or a black attacker which
:15:22. > :15:27.leaves open the possibility there may have been two people.
:15:28. > :15:29.Tonight the Prime Minister will chair a meeting of the government's
:15:30. > :15:32.Parliament remains in lockdown, with business suspended,
:15:33. > :15:40.as our Deputy political editor John Pienaar reports.
:15:41. > :15:48.It is one of the busiest and best guarded sites in Britain, in Europe.
:15:49. > :15:52.The police response took moments and as the cordons close, those who
:15:53. > :15:59.watched these terrifying scenes unfold added to the accounts of what
:16:00. > :16:04.had just taken place. 200 yards from Big Ben, overlooking Westminster
:16:05. > :16:09.Bridge, I arrived just after the incident, and I bumped into a group
:16:10. > :16:13.of extremely traumatised, French teenagers who were here on a trip
:16:14. > :16:18.for a week. One of them described to me what had happened on the bridge,
:16:19. > :16:23.how he saw a car drive into what he thought were two or three of the
:16:24. > :16:28.people with him. Many of the people were too upset, trying to much to
:16:29. > :16:33.talk, some in shock. I passed one person lying on the pavement covered
:16:34. > :16:38.in one of those metallic blankets you see after the marathon. And from
:16:39. > :16:42.inside Parliament itself reporters heard the attacker's car heat the
:16:43. > :16:47.barriers outside and saw what happened next. We heard a big bang
:16:48. > :16:55.outside at about 2:40pm and then screaming, a man shouting. And then
:16:56. > :16:59.200 or so tourists or passers-by started running from Westminster
:17:00. > :17:05.Bridge across the pavement in front Parliament to Westminster Abbey.
:17:06. > :17:15.There was shooting outside Parliament and an ambulance landed.
:17:16. > :17:19.The police are marking the area out with cones. Emergency services
:17:20. > :17:24.converged in force to tend to the casualties. At this stage no one
:17:25. > :17:30.knew quite how many. Metres away, London life went on blissful
:17:31. > :17:34.ignorance. One MP raised the alarm. I made my way into the tube station
:17:35. > :17:39.and I could see people walking around with their kids like it was a
:17:40. > :17:43.normal day. I went straight to the control room and said, you need to
:17:44. > :17:48.shut the tube station now, we have got a terror attack on the Palace of
:17:49. > :17:52.Westminster, you need to shut it now. He put a radio alert out to all
:17:53. > :17:56.staff and they put on their high visibility jackets. All the MPs were
:17:57. > :18:04.going to vote when the incident happened. I was on the way to the
:18:05. > :18:11.old Palace when the gunshots rang out. It takes a moment to think that
:18:12. > :18:16.is not a car, that is a gunshot. Then there was lots of yelling, get
:18:17. > :18:21.down on the floor, get back into the building, which is what we all did.
:18:22. > :18:26.The numbers killed, the casualty list has grown. It is an attack at
:18:27. > :18:30.the heart of British political life. The security services will study
:18:31. > :18:34.what happened here and seek to learn the lessons even as innocent victims
:18:35. > :18:38.are treated and the families of the dead begin to mourn.
:18:39. > :18:40.In a moment we'll speak to Sophie Hutchinson who is outside
:18:41. > :18:43.St Thomas's Hospital in central London but first we can talk
:18:44. > :18:48.to Eleanor Garnier who's in Westminster for us.
:18:49. > :18:55.Behind you I can see nothing but blue flashing lights. Presumably the
:18:56. > :19:01.whole place is in lockdown? Even this evening police vans and cars
:19:02. > :19:07.and ambulances are continuing to arrive. We are 300 metres away from
:19:08. > :19:10.the Palace of Westminster. I have been here or afternoon and
:19:11. > :19:15.politicians have been telling me how shocked they are at what has
:19:16. > :19:21.happened here in Westminster and saddened that four people have died
:19:22. > :19:25.and 20 have been injured. As soon as the incident happened Westminster
:19:26. > :19:29.went into lockdown. MPs and Parliamentary staff told me they
:19:30. > :19:32.were asked to move away from windows. Gradually people inside
:19:33. > :19:38.Westminster were grouped together and it is only in the last hour or
:19:39. > :19:42.so that 500 people were taken across the road to Westminster Abbey where
:19:43. > :19:47.there are about 1000 people, many being briefed by police officers
:19:48. > :19:52.there. It is not yet know exactly what happened and when, but many are
:19:53. > :19:56.saying is that they are what has happened and the former Prime
:19:57. > :20:00.Minister David Cameron said, those seeking to attack our democracy with
:20:01. > :20:07.these barbarous methods will never win. But many questions are still
:20:08. > :20:13.unanswered. Were people who may not know, Saint Thomas' is very close to
:20:14. > :20:17.Westminster, isn't it? This is the nearest hospital to where the attack
:20:18. > :20:22.took place. It is literally across the River Thames from where the
:20:23. > :20:28.houses of parliament are. It looks onto them if you like. You can see
:20:29. > :20:33.the scene beside me. There are a dozen or so emergency vehicles here,
:20:34. > :20:39.mainly ambulances, parked in the street. The hospital is behind me.
:20:40. > :20:45.On my other side you can see one of these buses, a sightseeing bus, it
:20:46. > :20:50.has just been abandoned in the street with other vehicles abandoned
:20:51. > :20:53.as the attack took place. London ambulance say they were called to
:20:54. > :21:04.Westminster Bridge, which is just beyond this bus here, at about
:21:05. > :21:06.2:40pm this afternoon, and they declared a major incident. They
:21:07. > :21:11.treated ten people on the bridge. We now know there were at least 20
:21:12. > :21:15.casualties, some of them French schoolchildren. It was staff at the
:21:16. > :21:20.hospital who rushed out as soon as the attack happened in order to try
:21:21. > :21:25.and help. One of the junior doctors here was the first to say a woman
:21:26. > :21:30.had died at the scene after reports and number of people had been
:21:31. > :21:37.ploughed into by that vehicle. This is not a major trauma centre and an
:21:38. > :21:41.number of patients, we understand foreign pages, have been taken to
:21:42. > :21:43.Kings Hospital, a major trauma centre, where they are being treated
:21:44. > :21:51.for their injuries. Sophie Hutchinson and Eleanor
:21:52. > :21:54.Garnier. Richard Tice was coming
:21:55. > :21:56.out of the tube station He spoke to the BBC's
:21:57. > :21:59.Daniel Sandford soon afterwards. I was coming out of the tube
:22:00. > :22:03.at Westminster at about 2:45 p.m. It was clear something had happened,
:22:04. > :22:05.police were ushering people out I was ushered onto Westminster
:22:06. > :22:10.Bridge, but then I looked across to the West pavement
:22:11. > :22:13.and there were bodies, people lying So I then moved up into the middle
:22:14. > :22:19.of the bridge, looked further down the south side of the bridge
:22:20. > :22:22.and it was clear there were also bodies, people lying on the floor
:22:23. > :22:25.on the western pavement. When I spoke to someone who had
:22:26. > :22:27.clearly been on the bridge at the time of the incident
:22:28. > :22:31.they said that a car had mounted the pavement, or a vehicle,
:22:32. > :22:33.and literally driven the whole way from south to north, up the bridge,
:22:34. > :22:37.knocking people over. I counted eight people
:22:38. > :22:40.the length of the bridge from south to north,
:22:41. > :22:44.at least eight. One was clearly in a sort of shocked
:22:45. > :22:48.moment, so you are not quite sure what is going on,
:22:49. > :22:51.but as I looked up and down As I was standing there,
:22:52. > :23:01.an ambulance came over, landed in Parliament Square and out
:23:02. > :23:03.came an incredible number of security personnel,
:23:04. > :23:05.both obviously from the Ambulance Service, paramedics, but also
:23:06. > :23:09.suddenly plain clothes people, people with masks on,
:23:10. > :23:13.people with machine guns. The quantity of armed
:23:14. > :23:19.personnel arriving was very Then as I looked there were vehicles
:23:20. > :23:25.arriving from the embankment, both police vehicles,
:23:26. > :23:29.vehicles with lights on and then a grey van with a number
:23:30. > :23:33.of security personnel. In a sense reassuring to know
:23:34. > :23:37.that there were so many armed security personnel looking
:23:38. > :23:39.after our safety so quickly after what was clearly
:23:40. > :23:48.a pretty dramatic event. An eyewitness who watched these
:23:49. > :23:52.horrific events unfold. As we've been hearing,
:23:53. > :23:54.police say they are treating today's attack as a terrorist incident
:23:55. > :23:56.until they know otherwise. Since 2014 the threat level
:23:57. > :23:58.for international terrorism in the UK has been rated as severe,
:23:59. > :24:02.meaning an attack is highly likely. Tonight questions are being asked
:24:03. > :24:04.about how someone managed to penetrate Parliament's enhanced
:24:05. > :24:08.security system carrying a weapon. Our security correspondent
:24:09. > :24:23.Gordon Corera has this Armed officers around the Palace of
:24:24. > :24:28.Westminster this afternoon. In the immediate aftermath of a long feared
:24:29. > :24:32.attack. It is supposed to be one of the most secure sites in the
:24:33. > :24:37.country, precisely because it has long been top of the target list for
:24:38. > :24:42.terrorists. Armed police have regularly carried out exercises like
:24:43. > :24:46.this one to secure Parliament and the area around it. But the
:24:47. > :24:52.challenges in stopping every attack are enormous and today they were
:24:53. > :24:57.having to respond for real. The Met responded in line for our plans for
:24:58. > :25:02.a marauding terrorist attack. It included uniform and specialist
:25:03. > :25:06.firearms officers. We now have an ongoing operation and whilst we
:25:07. > :25:10.currently believe there was only one attacker, I am sure the public will
:25:11. > :25:12.understand as taking every precaution in locking down and
:25:13. > :25:18.searching the area as thoroughly as possible. There is no identification
:25:19. > :25:22.yet of those involved, but the police are saying they are treating
:25:23. > :25:24.the attack as a terrorist incident. But who did this and how did they
:25:25. > :25:39.manage to The security services said 13
:25:40. > :25:42.attacks have been stopped. But we have seen those planning attacks
:25:43. > :25:49.switch to less sophisticated techniques, which can be harder for
:25:50. > :25:55.the intelligence agencies to spot. A year ago exactly so an attack on
:25:56. > :25:59.Brussels airport and the metro. That was more sophisticated than what we
:26:00. > :26:08.saw in Westminster day, including the use of explosives. Last weekend,
:26:09. > :26:11.Orly airport in Paris show that loan individuals resort to low-tech
:26:12. > :26:17.means. The man grabbed a gun of a soldier but were shot. Recent
:26:18. > :26:21.attacks in Berlin and Nice show what damage a vehicle can do to people on
:26:22. > :26:26.the streets, as in Westminster. But that is impossible to prevent unless
:26:27. > :26:30.you can identify the attack beforehand. In many recent cases,
:26:31. > :26:34.they have been inspired by so-called Islamic State, but might not be in
:26:35. > :26:40.direct contact with the group, but makes it harder to find them. In
:26:41. > :26:44.recent years, security around Parliament has been upgraded after
:26:45. > :26:49.intruders managed to get inside. Cameras, bollards and x-ray scanners
:26:50. > :26:53.are in place, but today an attacker did manage to bridge the initial
:26:54. > :26:58.perimeter. Although police did deal with him quickly after he got in.
:26:59. > :27:01.There may be questions over how that happened, but the priority for now
:27:02. > :27:06.will be identifying those behind the attack, understanding their
:27:07. > :27:09.connections and working out if the threat has really passed.
:27:10. > :27:12.In a moment we'll speak to the BBC Presenter Nick Robinson
:27:13. > :27:15.who is in Westminster, but first our transport
:27:16. > :27:22.correspondent Richard Westcott is at Waterloo tonight.
:27:23. > :27:28.Are there signs of extra security, as I can see these commuters trying
:27:29. > :27:36.to get home, is there more security for them tonight?
:27:37. > :27:42.There is, I will come onto security in a minute. This is Waterloo Bridge
:27:43. > :27:48.so people will be coming over here to go to the station. It is pretty
:27:49. > :27:52.much business as usual. About an hour ago it was wall-to-wall red
:27:53. > :27:56.buses because the traffic was diverted. Over there is the train
:27:57. > :28:00.line that comes out from charring Cross and there are trains running
:28:01. > :28:04.normally and you can see Westminster in the background and how close we
:28:05. > :28:09.are. Pretty much business as usual for the people going home tonight.
:28:10. > :28:13.But I have been speaking to the British Transport Police and they
:28:14. > :28:18.are going to have extra officers at railway stations, not just in London
:28:19. > :28:22.but across Britain. They are not telling me how many officers and
:28:23. > :28:27.they are not telling me if they will be armed officers or ordinarily
:28:28. > :28:30.support officers. They say it is not because of any specific threats,
:28:31. > :28:35.they were very clear about that, it is just to reassure people. So if
:28:36. > :28:39.you are going home anywhere across Britain, you could see the extra
:28:40. > :28:41.presence of officers at railway stations. Thank you.
:28:42. > :28:47.We can talk to the BBC's Nick Robinson, who's at Scotland Yard.
:28:48. > :28:59.Just describe what you saw? I arrived just opposite the London
:29:00. > :29:05.eye, so famously lit up every New Year's Eve. As I was walking down
:29:06. > :29:09.here towards Big Ben, I came across a group of traumatised
:29:10. > :29:15.schoolchildren from France who were fleeing the bridge. Much of them are
:29:16. > :29:19.too upset to speak, many in tears, consoling their friends. One lying
:29:20. > :29:23.on the ground very close to where I am now, covered in one of those foil
:29:24. > :29:28.blankets by a police officer, who was trying to deal with the fact
:29:29. > :29:33.they were in shock. Only one could tell me what they have seen, but
:29:34. > :29:38.three schoolchildren we believe from Brittany had been hit by an attacker
:29:39. > :29:44.using the car as a weapon. After that, this eyewitness said to me he
:29:45. > :29:49.had seen two people who look at, he used the word machete. We cannot
:29:50. > :29:52.corroborate this, I was not on the bridge itself and there were not
:29:53. > :29:58.multiple witnesses, but these were children who had come a trip to
:29:59. > :30:02.London and had come to escape the horror they had seen in their own
:30:03. > :30:07.capital of Paris. Yet today, those children were victims. For those of
:30:08. > :30:10.us who have worked in Westminster for many years, I have seen friends,
:30:11. > :30:16.colleagues and members of Parliament I have known for years coming out
:30:17. > :30:19.here. Yes we knew it might happen, yes we saw the security
:30:20. > :30:23.preparations. Yes, we knew there were police officers risking their
:30:24. > :30:28.lives to save ours, but nothing quite prepares you for this. Nick
:30:29. > :30:30.Robinson at Westminster Bridge and Richard Wescott at Waterloo, thank
:30:31. > :30:34.you both. As a result of this afternoon's
:30:35. > :30:38.terrorist attack in Westminster the Scottish Parliament suspended
:30:39. > :30:41.a debate on whether or not to seek permission from the UK Government
:30:42. > :30:43.for a second independence A vote was due to be
:30:44. > :30:49.held in the last hour. And our Scotland Editor Sarah Smith
:30:50. > :31:01.outside the Scottish You are a long way away from
:31:02. > :31:07.Westminster, but I wonder the reaction there? There has been
:31:08. > :31:10.shocked reaction and has had an impact on the business of the
:31:11. > :31:14.parliament. As the news was coming through we could see MSPs in the
:31:15. > :31:19.chamber checking their phones, finding out what had happened. The
:31:20. > :31:25.First Minister left the chamber abruptly. Eventually a Tory MSP
:31:26. > :31:29.stood up and as the deputy presiding Officer to suspend proceedings. She
:31:30. > :31:33.controversially didn't do that, she said they would carry on with
:31:34. > :31:36.business as usable stop I understand that is because the Parliamentary
:31:37. > :31:39.authorities didn't want to look like they were giving in to terrorism.
:31:40. > :31:57.But members were uncomfortable carrying on with the debate, some of
:31:58. > :31:59.them were tweeting from the chamber saying they wanted the debate stop.
:32:00. > :32:02.After about half an hour the Presiding Officer came in and said
:32:03. > :32:04.because of events in London, members could not concentrate on the debate
:32:05. > :32:07.properly, so he was suspending it. Nicola Sturgeon but a statement out
:32:08. > :32:09.after that saying all of her thoughts are with people caught up
:32:10. > :32:11.in this attack and the brave emergency services. Although she
:32:12. > :32:16.thought it was right to stop the debate, it wasn't because of any
:32:17. > :32:22.security threat at Holyrood. Some MSPs said it was a mistake, it does
:32:23. > :32:26.look as if Parliament was giving away the liam-macro weighted
:32:27. > :32:38.terrorism. I understand tomorrow morning is when the debate will
:32:39. > :32:43.resume. We are getting more and more reaction. Amber Rudd has given a
:32:44. > :32:48.statement. We do not know the full impact of this terrible incident.
:32:49. > :32:54.But I know the whole country will be thinking and praying for those who
:32:55. > :32:58.are affected, as I am. I want to thank the emergency services for the
:32:59. > :33:04.quick response and pay tribute to their bravery, their courage and
:33:05. > :33:09.their professionalism. I have been briefed by the Met police and the
:33:10. > :33:15.security services and the security minister has also been updated. This
:33:16. > :33:20.is an ongoing incident and the government will continue to be
:33:21. > :33:25.updated. The Prime Minister will chair COBRA today. The government's
:33:26. > :33:32.top priority is the security of its people. And I urge everyone to
:33:33. > :33:35.remain calm but remain vigilant and if they see anything they are
:33:36. > :33:46.concerned about, they should report it to the police. Home Secretary,
:33:47. > :33:50.Amber Rudd in the last few minutes. Westminster is busy with tourism,
:33:51. > :33:54.and many people work in the area. Kevin Schofield, a journalist has
:33:55. > :33:55.been describing what he saw from his office window overlooking the gates
:33:56. > :34:10.to Parliament. There was a commotion, people
:34:11. > :34:20.running around. We thought there had been a bus crash. I looked down at
:34:21. > :34:26.the gates on the outer perimeter of the Parliamentary estate, they are
:34:27. > :34:33.secure all day by armed policeman. I saw a man storming the gates. He
:34:34. > :34:36.attacked the policeman. The policeman went down and another
:34:37. > :34:42.policeman went to approach him. The man got up with his arm outstretched
:34:43. > :34:47.rate and looked like he had a night in his hand and pointing it towards
:34:48. > :34:53.the policeman. Where they walked, I couldn't get a great vantage point,
:34:54. > :34:56.but there was lots of gunfire. That's when I knew there was
:34:57. > :35:02.something serious under way and there were lots of policeman running
:35:03. > :35:07.around. I can see a car which has crashed on the side of Westminster
:35:08. > :35:12.Bridge. That would seem to be what the bank was. I can see the car is
:35:13. > :35:18.still there right now. It has obviously crashed into a gate. The
:35:19. > :35:22.voice of Kevin Schofield, an eyewitness. Let's summarise what we
:35:23. > :35:26.know about the attacks in Westminster which police, as we have
:35:27. > :35:31.been saying, are treating as a terrorist incident. Four people are
:35:32. > :35:35.known to have died. An attacker ran down several pedestrians on
:35:36. > :35:42.Westminster Bridge. This is where it is understood two people died. 20
:35:43. > :35:47.others were injured with some suffering catastrophic injuries,
:35:48. > :35:51.according to the emergency services. The car crashed into railings before
:35:52. > :35:54.the attacker is thought to have run through gates at the Palace of
:35:55. > :35:59.Westminster who stabbed a police officer, who then died from his
:36:00. > :36:04.injuries. Eyewitnesses said the attacker was shot dead by police. A
:36:05. > :36:09.counterterrorism investigation is underway and the night the Prime
:36:10. > :36:14.Minister will chair a meeting of the emergency COBRA committee.
:36:15. > :36:26.A full counter terrorism investigation is under way
:36:27. > :36:33.There are always questions about a terror attack. Could it have been
:36:34. > :36:37.prevented. There might be some questions about the physical
:36:38. > :36:40.security on the bridge. Could there have been bollards, better
:36:41. > :36:46.protection and more at the perimeter to stop a car getting so close? The
:36:47. > :36:50.police responded very quickly and very bravely in this incident.
:36:51. > :36:56.Questions about the perpetrator, Lott may on was this some unknown to
:36:57. > :37:01.the security and intelligence services. They have foiled many plot
:37:02. > :37:06.since the murder of Lee Rigby but they have five live counterterrorism
:37:07. > :37:10.investigations and the threat has been at severe, meaning an attacker
:37:11. > :37:17.was highly likely. Thank you very much. Let's go to John Pienaar in
:37:18. > :37:23.Westminster. I know it's difficult, but could use some up for us today's
:37:24. > :37:28.events in Westminster? In the immediate aftermath of this terrible
:37:29. > :37:33.outrage, we heard from Gordon, the security services gathered at this
:37:34. > :37:36.emergency contingency meeting, COBRA and look for any intelligence that
:37:37. > :37:40.might illuminate what has happened. But our political leadership in this
:37:41. > :37:46.country, the people themselves have faced some think that they knew was
:37:47. > :37:49.possible, but now it is reality. The Prime Minister will begin to think
:37:50. > :37:53.on how to put the words together to express the message she would want
:37:54. > :37:59.to send out in the light of all of this. You can only have a certain
:38:00. > :38:07.amount of security in a free democracy like ours. 100% security
:38:08. > :38:10.is impossible. Theresa May will find a way to inspire that resilience in
:38:11. > :38:15.the hours and days ahead. Thank you very much.
:38:16. > :38:27.Not being a great day with the downpours across the country. The
:38:28. > :38:31.rain will be affecting northern areas and we have a return of rain
:38:32. > :38:35.in the south-east and also the London area into central and
:38:36. > :38:40.southern England. Pretty chilly but not desperately cold across most of
:38:41. > :38:44.the country. In Scotland, could dip down to minus eight degrees in the
:38:45. > :38:48.Glens. Tomorrow starts cloudy and there may be rain around but there
:38:49. > :38:52.will be a nice afternoon with sunshine across many areas. Northern
:38:53. > :38:57.England getting the most of the sunshine. But in southern areas, the
:38:58. > :39:01.south-west it will remain cloudy and we have the remnants of the weather
:39:02. > :39:06.front that has been affecting us today and it will stick around on
:39:07. > :39:10.the south coast tomorrow. Places like Portsmouth to Plymouth hanging
:39:11. > :39:13.on to the cloud and bits and pieces of rain. Towards the end of the
:39:14. > :39:17.week, high pressure starts to dominate the weather across most of
:39:18. > :39:21.the UK. It pushes the weather friends away but bits and pieces of
:39:22. > :39:25.rain may be left over for the last day of the working week. But most of
:39:26. > :39:31.the UK enjoying sunshine and temperature starting to creep up as
:39:32. > :39:35.well. As we head into the weekend, Saturday and Sunday fairly similar.
:39:36. > :39:40.High-pressure anchored itself across the UK. Lots of dry weather around
:39:41. > :39:42.and warm sunshine, but the night will be chilly, so a touch of frost
:39:43. > :39:53.on the way. George, back to you. A reminder of the night's story. An
:39:54. > :39:56.attack at the Houses of Parliament in London is being treated as a
:39:57. > :40:01.terrorist incident. Four people are known to have died and 20 people
:40:02. > :40:02.have been injured. There will be continuing coverage of this
:40:03. > :40:05.developing