night and the implications from the cobra meeting. thank you. we will see you soon. you're watching bbc news. i'm on london bridge where six people have been killed and nearly 50 injured in a terrorist attack. a white van drove into pedestrians before three men jumped out and stabbed people in nearby streets. they were running in all the pubs, all the bars. they run in and they were stabbing everyone and i was going to people, "run, run, run!" distressing scenes as paramedics and the emergency services provided first aid. some of the injured are in a critical condition in hospital. police placed several bars in lockdown — people were ordered to lay on the ground as officers checked there were no assailants present. police say that within eight minutes of receiving first reports of the attack they had shot dead the three assailants. the suspects were wearing

what looked like explosive vests, but these were later established to be hoaxes. the mayor of london willjoin the prime minister and others at a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee later this morning. good morning from central london, where six people have been killed and about 50 injured during the country's

second terrorist attack in less than two weeks. evenif even if you don't know london, you may know the shard behind me. it has become one of the most famous parts of the london skyline. we are near the shard, we are near london bridge, it's a major transport hub, it's essential busy district, homes, offices, bars and restaurants. all offices, bars and restaurants. all of those affected over night, saturday night into sunday morning, here in london. let's explain to you what we know so far. officers responded to reports of a vehicle ploughing into pedestrians on london bridge just after 10pm. three men got out of the vehicle and started stabbing people on the bridge and at the nearby borough market. at that time of night, it is very

busy indeed. all three attackers — who were wearing fake explosives vests — were shot and killed by police. at least 30 people have been taken to hospital — and a number of others with minor injuries were treated at the scene, as tom symonds reports. it began in what is becoming a familiarand it began in what is becoming a familiar and horrifying way. confusion and a massive police response. just after ten p.m., this white van had run down people walking along london bridge, leaving bodies in its path. it crashed close to southwark cathedral and from inside, eyewitnesses said three men emerged. that is terrorists. there

was a barfull of emerged. that is terrorists. there was a bar full of people there, just having a good time. and they went running straight into them and i think they were saying, this is for allah. people were screaming and getting stabbed. they were screaming, this is for allah and they ran up and stabbed this girl ten or15 they ran up and stabbed this girl ten or 15 times. she was asking for help and i couldn't do nothing. this is an area of bars and cafes. police tried to get control and spot potential attackers. armed officers we re potential attackers. armed officers were there within eight minutes, and then this. it was over. three attackers were dead, one had canisters taped to his body, not a

suicide vest, the police, a hoax. in nearly hours, the country's senior counterterrorism officer made a statement. at eight minutes past ten la st statement. at eight minutes past ten last night, we began to receive reports are to vehicle had struck pedestrians on london bridge. the beagle continued to drive from london bridge to borough market. the suspects left the vehicle, attempted to stab a number of people, including an on duty british transport police officer, who was responding to the incident. he received serious injuries, fortunately not life—threatening. his family have been informed. armed response officers then responded very quickly and bravely and confronted the three male suspects, who were shot and killed in butter market. london's paramedic and hospital emergency plans had been triggered. back on the bridge, they we re triggered. back on the bridge, they were treating those run down by the van, and also those set upon by the attackers as they lay in the road. a

huge area of southwark has been cordoned off. heavily armed officers have been carrying out checks. they need to be sure there are no other attackers, and that includes entering buildings that this one nearby. tonight, we heard what we believe to be controlled explosions from the area around london bridge station. the fire brigade are here asa station. the fire brigade are here as a back—up, and a massive police investigation is now starting. there be looking at the van and its movements. there will be identifying the attackers and anyone connected with them, and there will be a separate investigation into the police shootings. this morning, londoners coming to terms with yet another example of indiscriminate violence on its streets. for the police, the pressure is on to make sure it doesn't happen. if you are just if you arejustjoining us, just

if you are justjoining us, just to explain what is going on. we're broadcasting coverage from london bridge, the scene of the attack overnight. six people losing their lives in the attack, many more injured. in the next few minutes, we are expecting a statement from the head of the metropolitan police, cressida dick. if you are tuning in, we're broadcasting to our viewers all over the world, and if you are just tuning viewers all over the world, and if you arejust tuning in on bbc one, we will be hearing in the next few minutes from andrew marr, who will be talking about the ramifications of the attack. worth reminding those perhaps in other countries, sunday morning in the uk, fort is due to go to the polls this thursday. but the prime minister theresa may has said for now that election campaigning is

suspended. andrew marvell have much more on all of that with his political guests a little later in this hour. political campaigning suspended for now, just a few hours days before the general election. this is britain's second attack in less tha n this is britain's second attack in less than a fortnight, because we saw the huge attack at the manchester arena at the end of a pop concert less than two weeks ago, which killed 22 people and barely sees easy injured a large number more. in central london, we have been talking to eyewitnesses all night. there were two areas close to hear that were affected by the attacks, so would be talking to people who witnessed what happened both on the bridge and in butter market. if you don't know london, it might bea market. if you don't know london, it might be a part of the city you don't know, but it is is full of bars and restaurants, attractive places to go. the sort of place that everybody would want to be on a warm saturday night, so it would have

been extremely busy. let's hear from some of those who been telling the bbc over the past few hours what they saw and heard. one guy walked out in the road, managed to get the attention of the police officers and say, you have to go down there, he's down there. so this police car screeched down the street and then within five seconds, there were six gunshots, what sound towers like six clear gunshots. i'm not sure of have got this wrong, because i've not heard it on the news, but i'm sure i heard it on the news, but i'm sure i heard a bang and then armed police ran in, and it was in that kind of area or the high street area, we heard another series of gunshots. people were trying to reanimate people lying on the floor. then there was this guy saying to us,

run, run. this guy took us in his carand run, run. this guy took us in his car and then we crossed the bridge and we asked the sky to drop us. he dropped us near ourfriend. and then the police told us to run. we saw someone in this area and we got people through the gates of the hotel. me and another sheriff slammed the gate shut and we got eve ryo ne slammed the gate shut and we got everyone inside the hotel. slammed the gate shut and we got everyone inside the hotellj slammed the gate shut and we got everyone inside the hotel. i thinki saw up to about six people lying in the pavement and in the street. i saw one person having cpr administered. it didn't look very good. i then attempted to call 999, and before i could get through to anyone, the police started to arrive. some of the many people

caught up in the attack overnight. just to tell you, we're waiting for that statement from cressida dick, we'll be live at scotland yard as soon as the head of the metropolitan police emerges to briefjournalists gathered there. so we will be hearing from the commissioner of the metropolitan police, the london police force, very shortly. until that statement begins, i think we can talk to our correspondent at one of the main hospitals in this area, saint thomas' hospital. explain what they're saying to you. how many people are being looked after where you are? we are about a mile or so from where you are at london bridge. just along the river. saint thomas' is one of the five hospitals treating the injured here this morning, following the attacks last

night. the london ambulance service updated the number of those injured that they took to hospital, and that now stands at a8, some a0 patients are being treated in hospital. we heard earlier on from the mayor of london sadiq khan, who said some of those patients in a critical condition this morning others will be facing more minor injuries. but in terms of saint thomas', last night they were on lockdown when everything was unravelling where you are, so patients and staff and relatives were kept in the hospital until the situation was kept under control. we know this morning and told us they have enhanced security at the hospital. in terms of british transport police, they have confirmed that one of their officers last night, he was one of the first on the scene, was responding to a call from help from one of the members of public. you is in hospital in a series condition, although his injuries are not said

to bea although his injuries are not said to be a threatening. but the latest numbers this morning, a0 people in hospital, injured. not only will they be receiving the medical care that they need, but in time, when the religious right, they will be getting support from officers, specially trained officers in terms of dealing with what they saw and what they went through last night. yes, because we remember and we talked about it in light of the manchester attack, medical staff responded so superbly after that. they are going through their own issues as a result of all of that, but we should remember as well that they are trained to deal with emergency situations. i am assuming that sort of training and the procedures for a large attack, the sort were talking about this morning, all those procedures were in place and worked through. yes,

and not long ago, the westminster attack on westminster bridge, hospitals will of god through those procedures before, they will have trained, they will have things in place to know how to deal with the big event like this in terms of taking ina big event like this in terms of taking in a large number of patients, but they did have to take on last night. and you rightly say that there was a very fast response from emergency services last night. the first ambulance got to london bridge and six minutes. they said they said advanced trauma teams to they said advanced trauma teams to the scene, advanced paramedics and an airambulance to the scene, advanced paramedics and an air ambulance to get to the scene and treat those patients, so they are well rehearsed in this, but still a very difficult situation for those who weren't involved last night. helena will keep us up to

date from the hospital. a0 people in injured in total. some of them seriously, and that is on top of the six people who lost their lives here in central london last night. we're still waiting for a statement from the commission of the metropolitan police. we'll be back when that starts. while we wait with a statement, we'll talk to the bbc security correspondent, who is in the studios. frank, your thoughts on another attack on a soft target? yes, let's put this into perspective. this is the third successful terrorist attack in the uk in three months. measure that against five plots at mis the police they have been stopped in that same period. this is a pretty worrying record. it's much too early to say

if this is an intelligence failure, but the fact is that these people have been able to slip through the net. we knew the numbers are huge. 23,000 people altogether that the authorities are aware of, who have extremist sympathies. over 500 active plots under investigation. for quite some time now, the senior figures in counterterrorism have been warning that it is only a matter of time that an attack gets through. so we had westminster bridge in march, then we had manchester, no one at this. the background to this is that so—called islamic state is under huge pressure in the middle east. its caliphate is being eroded very rapidly, is losing its bases. so it's in its death throes fear of its geographical territory. is appealing to its followers in europe to hit out at civilians wherever they can. as you say, it's a soft target. there's

very little you do to protect people in the public, completely unforeseeable attack like this, other than best intelligence. and i think there will be some of the tough west is coming out of the cobra meeting, as to how it was people didn't know about this. it's too early for whitehall officials to confirm whether or not least the attackers were known to them, whether they were subjects of interest, but i would be surprised if they weren't on the periphery of some investigation or another. that's interesting. just to clarify the people who are waking up to this this morning, you are talking about the huge pressure that islamic status under in the middle east, for example. our people in the security world, intelligence agencies you been talking to, i they already making an assertion that this is linked to islamic state? just to

clarify the people who are joining us. now, they're not saying anything like that publicly. we may get something about that later in the day, but the assumption that has been working on is that this is a jihadist terrorist attack. eyewitnesses have said that one of the attackers was shouting, we are doing this for allah. it's hard to see that as any other suspect involved here. the background to this is that twice in the last few days has been a statement of appeal by so—called islamic state to carry out exactly this kind of attack, so it kind of fits into it, and frankly, there are no other suspects at the moment. thank you very much. thank you for that, our security correspondent frank gardner. and we're still waiting for that

statement from scotland yard. just worth reminding you as well, as frank alluded to as well, there will bea frank alluded to as well, there will be a cobra meeting, that is the official emergency meeting that ta kes pla ce official emergency meeting that takes place in the next while as well. that will be a little later on here in london. the prime minister will cheer about. the mayor of london sadiq khan, who's been talking about that, he'll be one of the people sitting around the table. let's get more from our political correspondent. bring us up—to—date with the political elements of the story. worth reminding people that this is very close to pulling to use in the uk. yes, just four days away from the general election, and we're here as a reaction to the events at london bridge. the main political parties have suspended their national campaign, that doesn't mean you would see canvassing locally. but the national campaign has been

suspended. the conservatives say they will keep an eye on events and see how they develop, to decide when the campaign will begin again. we've heard from the last —— in the last supperfromjeremy heard from the last —— in the last supper from jeremy corbyn, saying he has suspended his camp could name. he says those who seek to divide communities will not succeed. we will stand together to defend our common values of solidarity and justice and we will not allow terrorists to derail our democratic process. we've heard from the snp, nicola sturgeon says she will chair the scottish committee of defence, essentially a similar version of what's happening here with the cobra meeting, in view of what's happened in london. there will also be a cobra meeting, you've seen a number of senior cabinet ministers arrived here in downing street for a meeting chaired by the prime minister. there will be paid by senior security officials. they will talk about the

threat level, for example. after the magister attacks two weeks ago, the threat level here in the uk was bricked up to its highest, then brought back down again last weekend, so no doubt there will be a conversation with jtac, which will discuss whether that threat level in the uk needs to be boosted up again. following the magister attacks, we saw the deployment of an operation which saw 1000 personnel from the armed forces here and the streets of the capitals of balls to the work of the capitals of balls to the work of the police. no doubt there will be conversations about whether that leads to happen again. four days away from the general election, the timing politically couldn't be worse. the main parties have suspended national campaigning and we re suspended national campaigning and were waiting for a statement from the prime minister, when she finishes achieving the cobra meeting

this morning. we'll be back to you for that at the end of the cobra meeting. if you just for that at the end of the cobra meeting. if youjustjoining for that at the end of the cobra meeting. if you justjoining us, you're watching bbc news special coverage. without london bridge following a terrorist attack overnight. six people have died, a8 people were injured, some of them seriously. some of them treated at the scene, but many, many more still in hospital here on the sunday morning in central london. we were talking about the impact on the general election. let's use a little bit more about the politics of this. we'll cross back to the studio in central london and join my colleague andrew marr. i'm joined central london and join my colleague andrew marr. i'mjoined by central london and join my colleague andrew marr. i'm joined by david davis, the brexit secretary. our thoughts are very much with the families of those injured and the six dead, but we shouldn't forget the role of the police and the extraordinary circumstances. not

just our thoughts, the thoughts of the whole nation. the thoughts and sympathies of the whole nation with them. they should know about, and i hope that helps and what will be a terrible time. the police and emergency services have done a fabulousjob here. emergency services have done a fabulous job here. it emergency services have done a fabulousjob here. it is awe—inspiring that from the first call, to the point at which the terrorists were killed, it was eight minutes. and police were confronting people they thought might of been suicide bombers. absolutely. we banned word hero around, but a real hero is someone who runs towards danger when everyone else is running away. and running towards someone is wearing what you think is an expose of suicide vest is the ultimate in heroism and courage. unlike the magister attack, there were three people involved but we know about. is this a worrying development that there might be more out there, is this part of the network? there is little at this stage in a way of

knowing. the difficulty with this is that lone wolf or even loaned packs of walls, if you like, three of them, those attacks are incredibly difficult from intelligence agencies to get inside. the normal approach of intercepting and monitoring are less easy to do, or maybe sometimes impossible, if you don't have communication is taking place over long distances. so it's very hard to know. but the third attack on a very short period of time is incredibly worrying. this means that our election campaign has been knocked off course twice now. a lot of people feel that they key issues, including brexit, haven't been properly discussed. do you think there's any case for extending the election campaign, and could that be legally done? i'm not sure it can be legally done? i'm not sure it can be legally done. they beat some changes in law, i think. and who's going to do that? parliament no longer

exists. i'm not a member of parliament for the duration. so we are locked intojune nine. parliament for the duration. so we are locked intojune ninelj parliament for the duration. so we are locked into june nine. i think we re are locked into june nine. i think were locked into june are locked into june nine. i think were locked intojune the 9th. i think the public would want is to be locked into june nine. think the public would want is to be locked intojune nine. there's a balance of things here. on the one hand, we clearly want to respect the proper respect to the people who are injured and killed, so we don't want to carry on a it. the people doing this are this because they despise the freedoms we have, and those freedoms could be to go out on saturday night or to cast a vote. and it may be, or at least i don't know, i don't know whether or not they are deliberately trying to disrupt the general election whether this is a coincidence of timing. yes, because must be a possibility that this is a deliberate attack on the election itself. in which case, all the more reason not to develop, not to deflect, to as far as

possible the grounds of propriety, not let this put us off. so this suspension of campaigning should be brief. i think it will be relatively brief. i think it will be relatively brief. this is not not the first time that an attack will have been made on a western election campaign. backin made on a western election campaign. back in 2004, before the london bombing, there was an attack in madrid, the greek madrid bombing, and that was i think three days before the election. there was a lot of debate in spain at that time as to whether they should defer the election, and the ainger said no. he said, this is our democracy, we will give in to these people, we carry on. and i think that was the right decision. some people would say, are unofficial national motto is, keep calm and carry on. but not carrying on, we have suspended the election

campaign. perhaps that's the wrong thing to do. now, i don't think so. you have to respect people who have suffered. and also, for i was sitting here, cobra is going on. this is a cabinet office briefing. it's a meeting of very sinister heads of agencies —— very senior heads of agencies —— very senior heads of agencies —— very senior heads of agencies. they will be looking at this with all the data they can gather either in the last few hours prior to that, to assess what the size of risk is. do they lead to trigger an operation? that is going to happen and it has to happen in the interests of preserving the safety of the public. will they be discussing whether it was a mistake to downgrade the security level? it might, buti don't think that is the case. this isa don't think that is the case. this is a decision effectively taken by jtac, it's a deliberately

depoliticised decision, putting soldiers on the streets and so on, you don't want politicians taking that decision. the assessment of risk level is done byjtac, who are experts, all of them. they have to balance as well the extent to which we allow terrorists to disrupt our lives. the current level is already pretty high, is the second—highest level of threat. the other thing you have to ask yourself is was it made a difference couldn't have made a difference? a difference couldn't have made a difference ? based policeman a difference couldn't have made a difference? based policeman got there in eight minutes, partly because we have more armed response vehicles out now permanently on the streets anyway. so did anything else been done? and i think the answer is, at least at first sight, no, that's exactly what they're going to discuss. 0k. i've just that's exactly what they're going to discuss. 0k. i'vejust heard that cressida dick is about to make a statement, so i'll hand back to my news colleagues now. thanks very

much, andrew marr talking to david davis. let's head straight to scotla nd davis. let's head straight to scotland yard, there is the commissioner of the metropolitan police. thank you very much for coming here this morning. last night, we saw another appalling and tragic incident in london. something we hoped we would not see again. obviously, my thoughts are with all of those affected, those injured and the families of those innocent people who died while out enjoying a saturday night in our capital. in the early hours of this morning, i visited one of the hospitals where the injured are being treated. there, i heard a truly remarkable stories of extraordinary brave actions by officers on and off duty, who were first on the scene. i also heard of colleagues from other emergency services and members of

the public, who ran towards the danger as this incident unfolded. many, many people risked their own safety to help others and to treat those seriously injured and indeed, to confront the suspects involved. it is clear to me the courage of those people was extraordinary and i've pay tribute to all of them who came to the aid of those in need in this dreadful attack and i am sure helped to save lives. as you know, our officers confronted the suspects and brought this terrible incident toa and brought this terrible incident to a conclusion within eight minutes. it has now been confirmed sadly, that seven members of the

public have died, in addition, as you know, we believe three suspects are dead. my current information is that 48 people have been injured and 48 people were indeed taken to hospital for treatment. just to remind you, we were called at 10:08pm last night, initially to reports a vehicle had struck pedestrians on london bridge. that vehicle continued to drive from london bridge to borough market. the suspects left the vehicle, a number of people were stabbed. the suspects we re of people were stabbed. the suspects were shot dead by armed officers. we believe that this incident is under control. however, a large cordon

remains in the area around london bridge and borough market and there are many officers on scene as we need still to carry out a thorough search of the area to ensure everyone has been accounted for and to make the whole area safe. i do appreciate this has been a terrifying experience for many people and i would like to thank the people and i would like to thank the people affected in that area for the forbearance as we carry out our work. to anyone who is currently within the cordon, our advice is to stay inside and our officers will be in touch. if you are concerned, of course, contact us. london bridge station and the underground is also closed. for people who might be thinking of travelling to that area, i would ask you still avoid the area

if you possibly can. this is a fast moving investigation. we have very significant resources deployed both to the investigation and to the visible patrols people will be seeing as they wake up this morning. we will have increased patrols in many areas by the police and these will, of course, as you would expect, include armed officers. there is an emergency number established for anyone who is concerned about their loved ones who perhaps have not returned home and the casualty bureau number to remind you is 0800 0961233. our priority now is to work with our colleagues in the national counterterrorism police network and also with the intelligence agencies and other security services to establish more

details about those individuals who carried out the attack and the background to it. finally, this is a very worrying time for people, i do understand that. i would ask people in london, londoners and visitors, to remain calm. please, of course, be very vigilant and if you see anything suspicious, anything at all, or you are concerned about anyone at all, even if you think it is very insignificant, do not hesitate to contact us on the anti—terrorism hotline 0800789 321. your information could be a vital piece of information. thank you very much. i will take a couple of questions. was lowering the threat

level a mistake? you will have observed we were able to respond to this incident extremely quickly, within eight minutes. we were already at a very high level of alertness. severe means an attack is highly likely and the threat level was at severe. we were prepared potentially for an incident, as we have been for some considerable time. the threat level is a matter, as you know, for the independent data billy macro jtac, and they take a whole range of factors into account —— the independent jtac. in my view, we responded extremely well to this ghastly incident. inaudible our understanding is that there were three people involved in the attack. we have witnessed reports of three people armed with knives and three

attackers and we believe that the threat they posed was neutralised within eight minutes. of course, it isa very within eight minutes. of course, it is a very complex and confused scene and a confused series of events. it is important that we first of all make sure there is no one else is outstanding. we do not believe there is but we must make absolutely certain of that. as i said, we have a very large on tele macro investigation ongoing and we will be seeking to establish whether anyone else was working with or assisting in this attack —— very large investigation ongoing. at the moment, we believe there were three attackers and we believe they are dead. how confident are you... inaudible we will be doing everything in our power to try to stop such a

horrendous attack as this and we will be working with the government and our colleagues in the intelligence services to do so. are you sharing information with the americans? inaudible we have a good... we have a good working relationship with american colleagues. we normally share certain types of information with them and we depend on them to help keep the country safe. i cannot give you permission at the moment, it is very early stages, but my working assumption is that we will of course be sharing information with american colleagues. i cannot tell you anything about the identity of the suspects at the moment. a very high priority for us is to identify them, work out who they are, where they came from, what is behind this, i am not prepared to comment at all about any of the mission we currently have. you understand why.

inaudible we have very good resources, extraordinarily highly trained people, we have been trying to prepare for an attack like this. we have excellent working relationship with our colleagues in the agencies and we have officers on the streets of london all the time. these sorts of london all the time. these sorts of things, as you know, as is quite apparent, are hard to predict and sometimes, sadly, as has been proven over the last few weeks, hard to prevent. we will clearly have to look, all of us, in light of the westminster attack and the events in manchester at our resource levels and how we use them. that isjust a natural thing to do. but i believe the neck of pollard and police is well resourced. -- but i believe the metropolitan police is well

resourced. we benefited from the support of the military when the threat level went to critical. there isa threat level went to critical. there is a cobra meeting this morning. i am sure jtac will be assessing whether the threat level should go up whether the threat level should go up or not. if it were to go up, or if we felt there was a particular need to ask for military support, we absolutely would do so. i cannot say any more at this stage. one more question. the mayor has asked... inaudible three major attacks... i understand it isa three major attacks... i understand it is a worrying time for everybody, of course. there is going to be considerable concern by some people and fear among some people. what i

think we are asking for is that people do not overreact. people of course will make their own decisions about what they do or do not do but the last thing we need is people overreacting or beginning to take out their frustrations on other people in other communities or in their own communities. we would like people to allow the police and the intelligence agencies to get on with their work and intelligence agencies to get on with theirwork and remain intelligence agencies to get on with their work and remain calm. and of course, their work and remain calm. and of course , we their work and remain calm. and of course, we would want people, where they feel able to, to carry on with their normal lives. inaudible i don't. thank you. thanks very much. studio: the commissioner of the metropolitan police, cressida dick. the latest briefing to journalists. aerial shots of london bridge in central london. a crucial piece of

information that came out of the briefing, the death toll regrettably has risen. cressida dick telling journalists seven people died in the attack overnight. seven people died, a8 people were injured. the commissioner saying that the police do believe they have shot dead all of the attackers. she said they were three attackers, we believe, and three attackers, we believe, and three people were shot dead. the latest information from the metropolitan police. we will have much more in a moment. political reaction. returning to andrew marr in the studio. we heard a moment ago from david davis, brexit secretary, i am joined now by the shadow foreign secretary, emily thornberry. you are listening to cressida dick and you are of course a london mp yourself. to cressida dick and you are of course a london mp yourselflj to cressida dick and you are of course a london mp yourself. i did not get a lot of sleep. like a lot of londoners, we did not get a lot of londoners, we did not get a lot of sleep. it reminded us of 7/7 when

we lost so many people. 13 people from islington. you were newly elected? yes. it was immensely challenging to know what the best thing to do was. my view was that you have to ask people to stick together. what they are trying to do is separate the very essence of london. we are an example to the world of a multiracial, multinational city. we can show the world how it can be and they want to undermine it and we will not let them. we have to make sure we continue to stick together defiantly and make sure we work together as a community and people have to be brave and strong today. we were seeing there an aerial shot of the bridge where the attack happened, the second attack on a london bridge, it strikes me that perhaps london's bridges are particularly soft targets, there are not street furniture to stop cars getting onto the pavement and people have nowhere

tojump apartfrom the pavement and people have nowhere tojump apart from into the pavement and people have nowhere to jump apart from into the river. do we need to look at the security of bridges? that is probably right and they are iconic. there has to be and they are iconic. there has to be a compromise found. yes, for example, when arsenal stadium was built, there were measures laid in my constituency to make sure there we re my constituency to make sure there were bollards to make sure vehicles could not get up. you can never make any completely could not get up. you can never make a ny com pletely safe could not get up. you can never make any completely safe but measures need to be looked at again. this is an extraordinary situation, two attacks in a general election campaign. the labour party is suspending national campaigning, not local. until this evening, suspending national campaigning, not local. untilthis evening, i suspending national campaigning, not local. until this evening, i think. why? because i think we cannotjust go on today. i think particularly in london. it is particularly hard for us. people are waking up this morning not knowing if one of the

relatives or friends might have been involved. we bill are desperately trying to get in touch with friends to make sure everything is ok —— people. i do not think it is right to campaign today. it is a matter of balance. we must not be cowed by these people. we have to keep calm and carry on which includes at the moment politics. this campaign has been derailed twice by terrorist attacks. you must feel some sense of frustration you cannot get back onto the arguments about tax, brexit, whatever it is. do you think there is any case for extending the campaign and delaying the election for a week? no. the labour party will begin campaigning this evening again, the national campaign. we think that is the right balance. we are acutely aware of the fact that what these murderous people want is to undermine our democracy and our values and the very thing we should be doing is continuing with our election and indeed we should be

urging people in defiance to go out and vote and be involved in this. the one—time leader of isis said the terrorists should destroy the idol of democracy and uncover its deviant nature. do you think it is part of a wider attack on british democracy?” do not know if it is done unconsciously. clearly, a side—effect of it could be and that absolutely we must not allow to happen. one of the responses from london should be to be brave, calm, carry on. but also, do not let this derail our democracy. we go ahead with this election and we make sure people vote. emily thornberry, thank you. now to my colleague, jane hill, on the streets where the attack took place. thank you. let us talk to a couple of people who were very close to everything that happened last night. two men with me, both working last

night, even though it happened after 10pm, working late in separate areas. paul and john, starting with you, paul, you were working in a building very close to where we are standing now. about 300 yards away, a car park, i manage it at night, when a film unit is in. quite unlucky in a way because all of the units pulled out sojust unlucky in a way because all of the units pulled out so just a few crew left —— quite lucky. it was a double thing last night because i had the rail tracking as well, doing the lines dressed in orange. to cut a long story short, sat in my office, i heard four shots, i thought, that is gunfire. i went outside and i thought, right, maybe, maybe not. i went back in the office, roughly four more shots. then like world war iii. screaming and shouting. i went

out again and there was a chap lying down at the end of the road. then i thought, right, i have to lock the gates. did you think about your own safety? i am struck that you heard gunfire and ran out. it has been a long time but i was in the royal marines a long time ago. what happened then was i locked the gates, turning the lights off, my brain kicked in a bit, i got eve ryo ne brain kicked in a bit, i got everyone back, the police came and... the police came to your building? to the gates and they asked me, can you get the rail track people out? they are dressed in orange which stands out and i thought, i was pretty sure it was police fire because it was controlled shots. just in case, they we re controlled shots. just in case, they

were dressed in orange, i wanted to keep them safe. anyway, we got eve ryo ne keep them safe. anyway, we got everyone out with the help of the police and we got the film crew out as well. john, you are a tour guide, you were on a bus presumably with people from all over the world visiting london, you werejust a small distance from where we are here, just behind where you are standing. explain what happened to you. we were approaching london bridge and going rather slow because people had their cameras out ready to take a photo of tower bridge. as we got onto london bridge, the driver and myself noticed someone lying on the pavement, on the left side, and the work two taxis parked there as well, two black cabs. we we re there as well, two black cabs. we were not sure, maybe the person was knocked down, maybe fell ill, or something. we continued with the tour. then we noticed another person

lying on the right—hand side, the other side of the road. we became a bit alarmed because it did not make sense. then a bit further down, we saw another chap having cpr administered to him. that looked pretty serious. did you see police, emergency services? no. ithink pretty serious. did you see police, emergency services? no. i think we probably arrived within minutes of the incident because the police had not yet arrived at the time. obviously, it happened within minutes before we got there. i decided to dial 999 and before i could get connected, police cars appeared from everywhere. they all seemed to go straight down towards borough market. i assumed that whatever it was, a vehicle or something had ended up outside borough market. what were people on

the bus saying? you are showing tourists around, i am guessing a large chunk of those people do not know london, you are showing them london by night, what were people saying? what made it worse is that the bus we had last night was a totally topless bus, no roof at all. the only bus we have with no roof. it was a lovely evening. exactly. people could see what was around. they got up to have a look at what was happening and we got to a point where some of the women and the children on the bus started crying. after a few more minutes, some guy came up to the bus in uniform, i do not know whether he was a police officer or not, but he was banging on the door, telling us to leave the bus. but he was quite aggressive, the way he was doing it. of course,

that made the people feel worse. he wa nted that made the people feel worse. he wanted you to move quickly, presumably. absolutely, he was shouting, move, move, run, run. i was trying to get the people off in an orderly manner. they ran off and we we re an orderly manner. they ran off and we were told to go right to the far end of the bridge, by the monument. they put up a barrier. we went past there. whenl they put up a barrier. we went past there. when i got there, my people had disappeared. they must have been so terrified, they must have run in all directions. you do not have a record of these people were you just have to hope everyone rent to safety. i am sure they did all get back to the hotel safely —— hope everyone round to safety. it was troubling for me because they are my responsibility for at the end of the day. i felt quite bad about the whole incident because being from

all over the world and on one of the most iconic bridges in the world, that was probably the worst place this could have ever happened because everyone was just about ready to take photos of tower bridge. i will ask both of you as men who live and work in london, have you since perhaps the manchester attack, the attack on westminster bridge, have you been concerned about security? have you been running the tours differently? did it ever gave through your mind, that sort of thing customer not really. what happened in manchester probably made as a little bit more vigilant when we walk about. —— did it go through your mind, that sort of thing? i hang around in piccadilly circus quite a lot, a friend of mine has a stall. i am always looking at the steps, if there is a suspect bag there or something. it did not affect how you run the tour, what you said to

tourists coming to the capital? no. one does not expect this to happen to us. you never know when an attack will happen. one thing that i found absolutely unbelievable is that when 9/11 happened, iwas absolutely unbelievable is that when 9/11 happened, i was also on the same spot on london bridge and a lot of the americans on the bus, the cellphones started to ring, they we re cellphones started to ring, they were saying, oh, my god. 9/11 happened when i was on london bridge as well. it isjust unbelievable. paul, you have worked in some tough industries, your thoughts?” paul, you have worked in some tough industries, your thoughts? i thought the police were great, really good. quick response customer really great. the problem is the reason why they came to the yard is they reckon there were two more on the loose. quite a lot of upset people panicking. we help them as well.

that was it, really. the police were great. that is all i can say. london has had two attacks in visual space of time, plus the attack in manchester, do you reflect on that this one inquest at —— in a short space of time. it is very hard to police it all. two million police, it would still happen, i think. you can it would still happen, i think. you ca n always it would still happen, i think. you can always try, we can try, that is it. you will carry on as a tour guide? i am in my 18th year of being a guide, i will not give it up. i love what i do. you still present a positive image of the uk to outside visitors? absolutely. the uk pays my salary and i love myjob and i love working with people and it is great fun to have people on the bus from all over the world. you can tell he

isa guide, all over the world. you can tell he is a guide, can't you? he speaks... you are still going to keep running your tours? yeah, i am working tonight again. i have not been to bed yet so i will probably go home and have a few hours sleep and i will be back at work tonight.” and have a few hours sleep and i will be back at work tonight. i wish both of you the very best. tough night. really good of you to talk to us. i appreciate it has been really difficult, you have seen and heard things you would not wish to see. particularly when you have not had a night's sleep, we appreciate it.” was meant to work all night so it is 0k! all the best. thank you, paul and john. thank you so much for speaking to us. they witnessed everything that happened here last night. we now know from the commission of the met police, seven people killed in the attack overnight, a8 injured. we will

continue to bring you coverage from here in central london on bbc news. i mentioned the update we had in the last few minutes from the head of the metropolitan police, relatively new in thejob the metropolitan police, relatively new in the job herself, cressida dick has not been commissioner for more than a couple of months. that is was her briefing to journalists outside scotland yard, bringing people up to date. let us hear from the commission of the met. we we re called we were called to reports that a vehicle had struck pedestrians. it drove from london bridge the borough market. the suspects left the vehicle and a number of people were stabbed. the suspects were shot dead by armed officers. we believe that

this incident is under control. however, a large cordon remains in the area around london bridge and borough market and there are many office rs borough market and there are many officers on seeing as we need still to carry out a thorough search of the area to ensure everyone has been accounted for and to make the whole area safe — — accounted for and to make the whole area safe —— on the scene. i appreciate that has been a terrifying experience for many people and i would like to thank the people and i would like to thank the people affected in that area for the forbearance as we carry out our work. to anyone who is currently within the cordon, a advice is to stay inside and our officers will be in touch. if you are concerned, of course, contact us. london bridge station and the underground is also closed, so for people who might be

thinking of travelling to that area, i would ask that you still avoid the area, if you possibly can. this is a fa st area, if you possibly can. this is a fast moving investigation. we have very significant resources deployed both to the investigation and to the visible patrols people will be seeing as they wake up this morning. we will have increased patrols in many areas by the police and these will, of course, as you expect, include armed officers. there is an emergency number established for anyone who is concerned about their loved ones who perhaps have not returned home and the casualty bureau number, to remind you, is 0800 0961233. our priority now is to work with our colleagues in the

national counterterrorism police network and also with the intelligence agencies and other security services to establish more details about the individuals who carried out the attack and the background to it. that was cressida dick hummer commissioner of the metropolitan police, briefing journalists in the last half an hour —— cressida dick hummer commissioner. regrettably informing journalists seven people are now known to have died in the terrorist attack overnight and a8 injured. a fast moving investigation, she said, but the police do believe they have shot dead all of the attackers. she said there were three assailants and police believe they have shot all three attackers dead. we will have continuing coverage from just outside the cordon at london bridge, a large area cordoned off by the police as part of the continuing investigation. you are watching bbc news. i am jane

hill at london bridge in central london. you're watching bbc news. i'mjane hill on london bridge where seven people have been killed and nearly 50 injured in a terrorist attack. a white van drove into pedestrians before three men jumped out and stabbed people in nearby streets. they run in and they were stabbing everyone and i was going to people run, run, run. distressing scenes as paramedics and the emergency services provided first aid. some of the injured are said to be in a critical condition in hospital. police placed several bars in lockdown — people were ordered to lay on the ground as officers checked