23/03/2017 BBC News at One

The attack on Westminster - the Prime Minister says the man

who carried it out was British born and known to the security services.

Eight people have been arrested in overnight raids.

The so-called Islamic State have claimed responsibilty

A minute's silence was held this morning at 9.33am.

933 was the shoulder number of the murdered officer.

He's named as 48-year-old PC Keith Palmer - a husband and father.

An MP who served with him in the army 25 years ago pays tribute.

He was a strong, professional public servant.

And it was a delight to meet him here again, only a few months

42-year-old Ayesha Frade, a Spanish teacher, was one

She was on her way to collect her children from school.

Forensic police have been carrying out a fingertip search of the scene

Seven people are still in a critical condition.

A terrorist came to the place where people of all nationalities

and cultures gather to celebrate what it means to be free.

And he took out his rage indiscriminately against innocent

We will have all the latest from Westminster on the

And coming up on BBC News, the latest and the stories of those

killed and injured in a terror attack in Westminster.

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC news at 1pm.

The Prime Minister says the man who carried out the attack

on Westminster yesterday was British born and known to

A police officer and two pedestrians were killed

when he launched his attack, driving at high speed across

Westminster Bridge, before trying to enter the Palace of Westminster -

Around 40 others, from 12 different countries,

have been injured - seven of them are still critical.

So-called Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the

attack. This morning a minute's silence

was held in Westminster Eight people have been

arrested in overnight raids, but police say they believe

the attacker was acting alone. Our first report this

afternoon is from our The House of Commons was in sombre,

reflective mood this morning. Colleagues, in respectful memory

of those who lost their lives in yesterday's attack,

and of all of the casualties of that attack, we shall now

observe a minute's silence. Mr Speaker, yesterday,

an act of terrorism tried As generations have done before us,

and future generations will continue to do,

to deliver a simple message. And our resolve will never waver

in the face of terrorism. As the Queen said her thoughts

and sympathy were with all of those affected by yesterday's awful

violence, at New Scotland Yard the Metropolitan Police

paid their tributes to a fallen colleague, after an attack

on the capital that everyone had dreaded and trained for,

but is now determined to overcome. With the Union Flag at half-mast

above the Palace of Westminster, the immediate area around Parliament

remains closed to the public. That includes Westminster Bridge,

where shortly before 3pm yesterday afternoon, a lone attacker drove

a four-wheel drive vehicle at high speed through an unsuspecting crowd

of tourists, police officers and Londoners going

about their business. One victim was catapulted into the

Thames, as the car mounted the curb. The unnamed woman was pulled

from the river injured, but alive. The vehicle continued at speed,

past Big Ben, and crashed into the railings surrounding

the Palace of Westminster. But the attacker got out,

and armed with two large knives, ran around to the main gates,

where he stabbed a police officer, As he continued further

into the grounds, the assailant was then shot as he tried

to attack other officers. The panic clear from this mobile

phone footage inside Westminster as staff and MPs fled.

Amid the chaos of yesterday's attack, many have commented

on the extraordinary bravery and compassion of passers-by, MPs

and emergency services in giving first aid and tending

But three people were killed by the attacker,

including PC Palmer, a father and husband.

Also Aysha Frade, a 43-year-old from Spain,

The attacker, who also received first aid but died

from his injuries, has not been named.

But he was British and was once investigated for links to

Police from several forces launched simultaneous

operations overnight, in the Midlands and in London,

making eight arrests in connection with the Westminster attack.

The enquiries in Birmingham, London and other parts

It is still our belief, which continues to

be borne out by our investigation, that this attacker acted alone and

was inspired by international terrorism.

Investigators are still painstakingly piecing

together the exact circumstances of what happened

But in London and Westminster generally, security

has been visibly and significantly increased, around what was already

one of the most heavily protected areas of the capital.

The importance of providing a blanket of security,

while maintaining the freedoms Britons cherish so deeply, never

Well, with me is the policing minister Brandon Lewis.

Good afternoon. It must be of great concern to you that someone who was

known to the security services, albeit some time ago, and to the

police, was able to carry out an attack of this scale? We don't

comment on an ongoing investigation. The Prime Minister and Acting Deputy

Commissioner have said what we can say and there's nothing more we can

say at this stage. The policeman who was killed here in Westminster,

known to yourself, tributes were paid to him today in the Commons.

There's a real sentiment today of the great fullness of the British

public for what the police have done, a sentiment that must be

echoed around the country. Absolutely. So many colleagues, not

just members of Parliament but who saw him every day when he came in...

It's a wider grief, all of the police force, while Sir thoughts are

with Keith's family and friends and close colleagues, everyone in the

emergency services, who performed so phenomenally well. We owe them a

huge debt of thanks for what they do every day. Yesterday really

highlighted that. What will be the impact of all this? Are we going to

see more tighter policing on the streets of London? Landmarks with

more police around them? What people will see in the next few days and

weeks is the Metropolitan Police will assess what is required for

London. There will be more armed police to give reassurance. We are

confident this issue was a single incident which has been dealt with.

What we see now is to have police officers out there, what we're

seeing around Westminster is people getting on with their daily lives

and showing the very British constitution, getting on with

things, and that will prevail. Thank you. Here at Westminster the Prime

Minister said it was very much business as usual, with MPs and

peers returning to work as normal. Our political correspondent

Iain Watson reports. Business as usual, that's the

message Parliament wanted to send. But around Westminster it felt like

anything but. Security was tightened. And the victims

remembered. After the silence, determination. It statement, the

Prime Minister. Theresa May's tone was measured but resolute. We meet

here in the oldest of all parliaments, because we know that

democracy and the values it entails will always prevail. Those values,

free speech, liberty, human rights and the rule of law are embodied

here in this place. But they are shared by three people around the

world. This Westminster Street is normally bustling with MPs, staff

and tourists. Today it's a crime scene, you even need security

clearance just to be here. This attack on parliament, this attack on

democracy has at least achieved something, at one of the most

divisive times in British politics, it's brought together people right

across the political spectrum in condemnation.

It is by demonstrating our values, solidarity, community, humanity and

love that we will defeat the poison and division of hatred.

Today of all days we are reminded that notwithstanding our differences

on political and constitutional issues, we are as one in our

dedication to democracy of the rule of law and harmony between peoples

of all faiths and none. We have learned in Northern Ireland

that the way to overcome terrorism is by working together, politically

and in every other way, to ensure that our democratic values, the rule

of law, human rights are all upheld in every way they can.

This was an horrific crime and it has cost lives and caused injury,

but as an act of terror it has failed. It has failed because we are

here and we are going to go about our business.

For many at Westminster the loss of PC Keith Palmer was not just tragic

but raw. The Foreign Office Minister struggled to try to keep him alive,

and for one MP he wasn't just a police officer, he was a personal

friend from the Territorial Army. He was a strong, professional public

servant. And it was a delight to meet him here again only a few

months after being elected. Would my right honourable friend the

Prime Minister, in recognition of the work that he did and the other

police officers and public servants here in the house do, consider

recognising his gallantry and sacrifice formally with a posthumous

recognition? But on this day the tributes and

reflection at Westminster, difficult questions are still being asked. The

assailant was tackled and shot but briefly he managed to get through

these gates and into the precinct of Parliament.

Is it time to consider whether the police Hougaard sensitive sites

known to be of interest to terrorists, like Parliament or like

airports, should routinely carry personal protection weapons?

The police her Rohit pleaded their job. But, as is routine, the police

together with house authorities are securing reviewing the security of

the Parliamentary State, together with the Cabinet Office, who have

responsibility for the security measures. The heart of democracy

continues to beat but Parliament remembered those who lost their

lives, in what the Prime Minister described as an attack on liberty

foster Iain Watson, BBC News, Westminster.

Have a system political editor Norman Smith is in Westminster.

After the attack yesterday and the shock of that attack, can it really

be business as usual? I think that might be difficult. How

could it be given yesterday? People's minds are still on those

events. We began the day with a minute's silence, some MPs were

close to tears but I think today was about symbolism, and symbolism

matters. There was the symbolism of a packed Commons chamber with many

MPs cancelling trips away, cancelling other business, making a

determined effort to make sure they were in the chamber as a sort of

visible symbol to the world that Parliament continues, it is not

cowed or curtailed by yesterday's attack. Similarly there was the

symbolism of the day you hear beginning as it always begins with

the speaker's procession behind me here through Central Lobby. The

speaker leading his chaplain and this Serjeant at Arms, a visible

symbol of the longevity of this Parliament. It has survived through

the centuries, it has survived numerous threats and attacks and

will continue to do so. There was a more sort of prosaic symbolism of

members of the public able to go through those doors up to the public

gallery, to watch their elected representatives, a visible symbol

that this building remains a public building that people still have

access to. Although it is often portrayed as a sort of theatre of

discord and confrontation, I think there was a genuine sense of unity

today, about what binds this place together and it is a shared

conviction in democracy. Norman Smith in Parliament, thank you.

Westminster Bridge was packed, as it always is, yesterday

afternoon with tourists taking photos, school children on tours,

people on their way to and from work walking through the very

Three people were killed by the attacker -

a police officer and two pedestrians on the bridge.

Around 40 people others were injured - from 12 different

countries, as Daniel Boetcher reports.

PC Keith Palmer, a husband, a father, a police officer for 15

years. He died protecting Parliament. The Prime Minister said

he was every inch a hero. He was remembered today by colleagues in a

police service that has been left numb by the loss of one of their

own. Today, across the service we have

police officers in mourning for their fallen colleague, PC Keith

Palmer. Words can't express the grief that everyone in the police

service feels that losing a colleague, but of course that pales

into insignificance. One one thinks of PC Palmer's colleagues, family

and friends at this extremely troubling time.

Also killed in this attack was Aysha Frade, who was in her 40s and worked

at a college close to Westminster bridge. It is reported she was on

her way to pick up her children. The principle of the college that she

was highly regarded and loved by students and colleagues. A former

neighbour spoke of her devastation. She was just a lovely person with

two lovely children. This two lovely, lovely girls. How obese

children... They've lost their mother. You leave your kids, you

took them to school and go to pick them up and now this has happened to

you. I'm just in shock, too much shock. Those caught up in this

attack came from many different countries, Romanian officials say a

woman who fell into the River Thames when the car ploughed into

pedestrians is a tourist who was in London to celebrate her boyfriend's

birthday. It's reported that she was seriously injured. And there was a

group of students from the school in Brittany, they were in London on an

educational trip, three were injured, two of them are reported to

have suffered serious fractures. The French Foreign Minister travelled to

London to visit them. It's a new tragedy. I want to return

to Paris, but I wanted to stop in London first, to send a message to

the British people. A message of solidarity. Of those injured in the

attack, 29 were treated in hospital and some of those remaining critical

condition. Daniel Boettcher, BBC News. Let's go to France. Lucy

Williamson is at the school in Brittany, where that group of

students who were visiting London, who were here on Westminster Bridge,

are from. It was a big party of students who were here, wasn't it?

Yes, it was, we've been speaking to their classmates and friends this

morning who turned up for school here and base broke about how upset

and shocked they were to learn the news last night that their comrades

had been caught up in this attack in London. One woman was telling us how

people were in tears. Another said that when the headteacher gave their

address to the students here this morning, it was interrupted, when

one of the pupils fainted. We've also been down to a gathering near

the town Hall here today, where students from other schools in the

area came to show their solidarity and as you say, there were many

people in London when this attack happened. Over 90 pupils from this

school behind me. Some of whom at least we believe are expected back

in France today, so parents here, grandparents, are now waiting to be

reunited with those children. Lucy Williamson, thank you.

Seven people remain in a critical condition.

Most of them are being treated at Kings College Hospital

Helena Lee is there for us. What more can you tell us? This is one of

five hospitals across London where the injured have been treated this

lunchtime. It was just before 4p yesterday afternoon that major

incident was declared here and there are a lot of police officers manning

all of the entrances here at the hospital. They've got a major trauma

centre here. They are very well used to dealing with patients who have

life-threatening injuries. In terms of the numbers of those who have

been injured, we now know at least 40 were injured in the attacks

yesterday. 29 of those have been treated in hospital. Three of those

are police officers. Seven, as you say, are still in a critical

condition this lunchtime. Here at Kings College in particular, there

are eight patients, six of them men, two women, and two of them here are

in a critical condition. In terms of the injuries, some have been

described as catastrophic. Here we understand some of the patients do

have head injuries. In time police officers will want to speak to the

patients to get their version of events, what happened to them, but

that will happen in time, and they'll also get support as well as

those patients begin to process and died just exactly what happened to

them yesterday afternoon. -- and digester exactly what happened to

them yesterday afternoon. Let's bring you live pictures of the scene

here in Westminster, because in the last few minutes the police have

opened Westminster Bridge again. That bridge, which has been closed

since the attack that took place at about 2:40pm yesterday afternoon.

Bridge that at the time packed with people crossing the bridge,

tourists, children, people going to and from work. That bridge now has

been opened again. Much of Westminster, as you can probably

tell, still very much locked down at the moment. As we now know, the

attacker was British-born and known to police

and the security services. He'd been investigated

in the past in connection What police are now trying

to establish is who - Our security correspondent

Frank Gardner reports. The clues are out there but this

is going to take some time. But already so-called Islamic State

has claimed responsibility. First priority has been to identify

this man, the attacker. He was born in Britain,

unknown radical on MI5's database, And investigated years ago

for violent extremism. Then there's the car he drove,

crashing into parliament's railings. Forensic teams will be able

to gather fingerprints and DNA samples to find out who else has

been inside it recently. CCTV and ANPR, that's automated

numberplate recognition, should reveal the exact route

he took yesterday in The BBC understands it was hired

from a rental company in the West Midlands, called

Enterprise. Last night there was an armed

police raid in Birmingham and across the country six addresses

have been searched It certainly looks like this

individual was acting alone, although it's very unusual

for someone to actually be Extremists and terrorists

live in communities. They have relationships

the same as everybody else. I would be very surprised

if there weren't others who at least knew that there was an intention

to carry out an attack. Much of this investigation will be

taking place out of sight. GCHQ, the government's listening

station and its partners in MI5, the security service,

will want to read and analyse every They'll be using analytical software

to match up his contacts with other If his messages

were encrypted, which they probably were, then

the codebreakers will get to work. The aim, to find out who else

might have been involved. On MI5's databases that are over

3000 British citizens known to have Many people will now be asking,

so why couldn't this There are issues about whether MI5,

which does an excellent job by the way, has sufficient staffing

to be able to track people who come We now have the investigatory

powers act 2016 in force, which empowers the security services

in a proportionate way, to follow the Internet traffic

of people who are interested in being radicalised and we need

to see if it is sufficient. But low tech, high impact attacks

like this one, are hard Were it not for the swift response

of police and emergency services the casualties could have

been far worse. Let's go to our correspondent John

Kay, who is in Birmingham, where there were arrests last night. What

information do you have? It's not clear exactly how the police

activity here involves and relates to everything else that's going on

in this wider investigation, but what we do know is that this is one

of the number of properties across the West Midlands that have been

raided and searched since yesterday afternoon, when the attack happened

in Westminster. This appears to be a key part, a key focus, four officers

right now. Eyewitnesses have told us that at about midnight last night a

large number of police, some of them armed, descended on this area of

Hagley Road, which is about half a mile from the centre of the city of

Birmingham. Some of them armed, we are told, and some have told us that

about three people left with police. I'm not sure if

they were formally arrested or not, but that's what we've been told.

I've spoken to one guy who saw it from his window, and he said what he

saw was terrifying. I saw like a war. A war? Yes, like a war on the

streets. Something you see only in movies. I saw it behind my windows

on the street. It was very frightening. It was like, what the

hell is happening here? Is it a dream? Do I have to wake up? What's

happening? Do I have to go away from here? Am I safe here? All those

questions were arising in me. I was frightened. The police didn't tell

me anything. They didn't bother to tell me anything, just, stay away.

That was a student, who lives in a neighbouring building, who witnessed

the police activity here last night. We've seen crates, bags, being taken

out of here by forensic officers this morning and another thing we

know is that the car used in the attack was hired from an Enterprise

car rental unit also here in the city of Birmingham. Jon Kay, thank

you. Let's get the latest on the police

investigation from Daniel Sandford, We know the man who carried out the

attack was British-born, known to the security services. We are not

being told who he was though. Know, if you imagine how this

investigation is working, the police are starting with the incident

itself. There's a man who has stabbed a police officer, driven a

car, mowing down lots of pedestrians, and then he's shot dead

by a plainclothes police officer with a handgun. So they started with

him and they are fairly confident now they know the identity of that

man, but at this stage, for investigative reasons, they do not

want that name to get into the public domain, because they think it

might help people who may have been assisting him. The next thing was to

gather the evidence of the crime itself, to gather the evidence of

where people were hit by the vehicle, what damage was done, where

the man had stabbed the police officer, where the weapons were

left. And actually, quite a lot of that evidence gathering has happened

now, because in the last ten minutes we've seen suddenly the road

sweepers that were finishing the cleaning of Westminster Bridge

leaves, and pedestrians now walking across Westminster Bridge. Traffic

is not yet flowing. Pedestrians walking back and forth across the

bridge. The next phase of evidence gathering has happened. But of

course the big, big, big part of the investigation is still to be done.

Police have arrested eight people overnight, people known to the man

is to see if they knew anything about it, and they'll be working

outwards from that, from his devices, his computers and his

mobile phones and trying to work out who he knew and what communication

he may have had about is planned attack. Daniel Sandford, thank you.

The Pope has expressed sympathy for the victims

In a letter to the Archbishop of Westminster,

he offered his solidarity for all those affected.

Our religious affairs correspondent Martin Bashir

Yes, I spent the morning here at Westminster Cathedral, where

Cardinal Vincent Nichols has been praying for the victims, the

emergency services and the wider communities response to this attack.

He emphasised that regardless of who claims responsibility, our response

cannot be one of hatred. We have to be very clear

about I think two other things. One is that we utterly condemn

and reject this kind of mindless There is nothing to be gained,

no kudos to be gained, And also we have to make sure

we do not give space If we make enemies out of people

who are our friends, then we are falling in to the very

trap that the violent people want us to fall into,

so there is no space for hatred for those who are our friends,

for hatred for the Muslim population No reprisals, no sense

that we are targeting our condemnation at anybody other

than those who perpetrate At moments like this religious faith

is seen as a source of comfort. But there are many people

who would say that religious faith is the source of conflict

in our world. You know, every ideology has always

had this experience of extremism growing from within it,

and that is secular ideologies as well as

religious beliefs. But nobody in their right mind can

claim the name of God This is an abomination

against the name of God. And as if to further emphasise the

Catholic church's commitment to interfaith relationships, we've just

learned that Cardinal Vincent Nichols will be taking a delegation

of four British imams to meet with Pope Francis at the beginning of

next month. Back to you. Martin, thank you. Let's look at the latest

weather, with Helen Willetts. It's chilly out and about. Drier,

clearer skies are coming in from East. We'll see things starting to

dry up a little in Somerset. This is how it was looking about an hour

ago. We have got more sunshine further north. This is Lincolnshire.

This will become more of the norm, as we had through Friday and into

the weekend. At the moment we have a keen north-easterly wind which is

accentuated the chill. It starts to pick up quite significantly through

this evening. Across the south-west it looks as if we will state cloudy

and damp for much of the rest of daylight. It will feel colder, given

the strengthening wind. They'll be more sunshine across eastern and

southern counties of England compared to this morning. Cloud

across South Wales initially and a few showers but Northern England,

Northern Ireland and Scotland and the borders into northern England,

where we had the patchy rain and sleet this morning, is drying up. We

have showers to contend with across Scotland. It's pretty chilly, 6-7.

Across the Northern Isles, the showers continue on the breeze. In

the south, the wind strengthens and this evening and overnight it may

touch gale or severe gale force across the south coast of Devon and

Cornwall. It encourages more rain and cloud to come in here, perhaps

East Anglia. Generally speaking skies will be clearer. These are

towns and cities. It will be frosty in the countryside. Given we've had

a bit of rain and sleet there could be icy patches, even a little

freezing fog first thing Friday. The rain is more limited in the south

tomorrow. The breeze does start to ease off and we'll see brighter

skies materialising. Eventually. We still have that keen breeze and the

showers for the Lawlor Isles but for many parts Friday as drier, brighter

there will be more sunshine around. The winds start ease. It will not

feel so chilly. Temperatures are little higher. As I hinted earlier

with the high withers for the weekend, we should see similar

conditions through Saturday and Sunday. We keep a clean breeze near

the south coast. It will make it feel a little chilly because it's

still coming in from a relatively cold source, the East. Seeing more

cloud on Saturday and Sunday, these are the Capitals, representative of

the whole country. It's a dry scenario as we get to the weekend

with increasingly warm in the light sunshine but there will be fast and

potentially freezing fog by night. A reminder of our main

story this lunchtime. The Prime Minister says the man who

carried out yesterday's attack was British-born and known to the

security services. So-called Islamic State has claimed responsibility for

the attack, which has left three people dead. That's all from the BBC

News that one.