this is bbc news. the headlines at apm: cambridge graduate jack merritt has been named as one of the victims killed in yesterday's attack on london bridge. the 25—year—old was working for one of the university's education initiatives. the prime minister visited the scene of the attack earlier, saying people convicted of serious violent offences shouldn't be released early from prison. the attacker‘s been named as usman khan, out on licence after being automatically released from prison, despite a terrorism conviction. the practice of automatic early release, where you cut a sentence in half and let really serious, violent offenders out early simply isn't working, and i think you've had some very good evidence of how that is not working,

i'm afraid, with this case. the queen hails the bravery of passers—by yesterday, who restrained the attacker before he was shot dead by police. when we were all kicking him and holding him to the ground, we we re we were trying to dislodge the knife from his hand so he couldn't hurt anybody else. the guys that were there were just amazing, absolutely incredible people. in other news, millions of commuters will have to pay an average of 2.7% more for rail tickets in the new year. and, at 4:30pm, the highlights from this week's victoria derbyshire programme, including the latest in the series of election blind dates.

good afternoon. welcome to bbc news. in the next few minutes, we hope to have an update from new scotland yard, the home of the metropolitan police, where the assistant commissioner, the national lead officerfor commissioner, the national lead officer for counterterrorism for the police in england and wales, will be making a statement. he gave way yesterday and we are expecting significantly more information. that is the scene at new scotland yard. we will go straight back there as soon as he appears in front of those microphones. we have been waiting for the last 1.5 hours. we have been told he should be coming within the next ten minutes. that will be an updated statement of what has been happening. one bit of information that has emerged separately as the naming of one of three people killed yesterday by the london bridge attacker. he was cambridge university graduate jack merritt, he

was 25. the relevance of his graduation is not many that explains his photograph and the way he is stressed, that he was working for cambridge university at the time, the university organised the conference at fishmongers hall, outside of which the attack took place. the organisation he was working for is one which specialises in education services for people in prison, and it held a conference on rehabilitation at fishmongers hall in london, which was attended by the attacker, as mankind. jack merritt ‘s father described his son as a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog. it comes as the prime minister says he wants longer sentences for violent crime and an end to early release for serious offenders. the attacker, usman khan, had been

released on licence last december, after serving half of a 16—yearjail sentence for his part in a plot to blow up the london stock exchange. earlier this afternoon, the prime minister has been speaking at the scene of the attack. we understand that he was also wearing an electronic tag. —— usman khan. i have just been down again to talk to the emergency services, to thank the police for what they are doing and, you know, i pay tribute to their incredible response. they were on the scene in four minutes. the terrorist, the assailant, was tackled within five minutes. quite an incredible response by police, i also want to pay tribute again, as i think the whole country does, to the sheer bravery of those members of the public who went to deal with him spontaneously, putting their own lives at risk. so, i have been talking about the scene,

what happened, trying to understand exactly how this man came to be in fishmonger‘s hall and, you know, obviously it is early days and there is a lot of investigation that needs be done. but it is clear to me that this guy was out, he had served half of his sentence and was out on automatic early release, and i have long said that the system simply is not working. it does not make sense for us, as a society, to be putting terrorists, people convicted of terrorist offences, of serious, violent offences, out on early release and we argued that people should serve the tariff, serve the term for which they are sentenced. that is my immediate takeaway from this, and that is why i am working to increase sentences for serious and violent offenders, and why i have argued that when people are sentenced to a certain number of years in prison, they should serve every year of that sentence.

the other thing, i think, very strongly, looking at what is going on here, i really hope that it can be business as usual as fast as possible, and obviously all the forensics have to be done, and i thank the police for what they are doing, they are doing a fantasticjob. but i think people, businesses around here want to get on with their lives. it is the run—up to christmas and you can see people are out on the street shopping already, first thing. so, as a government, under your leadership, will you commit to reviewing whether indeterminate sentences should be what they say they are? absolutely. as we say in the manifesto, we want to toughen up sentences for serious and violent offences and i have said for a long time now that i think the practice of automatic early release, when you cut a sentence in half and let really serious, violent offenders out early, simply is not working and i think you have had some very good evidence of how that is not working,

and you have had some very good evidence of how that is not working, i'm afraid, with this case. with other convicted terrorists out on licence at the moment, how can you reassure the public that they are safe? well, i can tell you that we have had a long conversation, we had a long discussion already today about all those cases and a great deal of work is being done right now to make sure that the public are protected and i want to thank, you know, the security service, as well, for the outstanding job that they do. do not forget, this is a crucial point, for every incident like this, terrible as it is, there are many, many that are thwarted. there are many prospective terrorists who are intercepted, prevented by our fantastic police, fantastic security services. thank you. borisjohnson boris johnson speaking a borisjohnson speaking a little earlier. hopefully you could hear the final words over the problem of the final words over the problem of the aircraft noise. let's get the latest on the investigation.

here's our correspondent sarah corker. there was intense police activity at a property in stafford this morning, thought to be where the attacker had lived. this man, usman khan, 28 years old, a convicted terrorist out on licence. the attack started at fishmonger‘s hall, close to london bridge. khan had been invited to a criminaljustice event, run by cambridge university. mobile phone footage shows what happened next. he is pinned to the ground on the bridge, some of those intervening where prisoners on day release, who had been at the same event. including 42—year—old james ford, a convicted murderer, who helped to chase the attacker. the knife is then taken off him. police arrived within minutes and shot him dead. a man and woman were killed, three others, a man and two women, were also injured and remain in hospital. this is usman khan speaking to the bbc back in 2008,

before his conviction. if you ask them, they will know, that these labels that they put on us, terrorist, they will know, i am no terrorist. he was originally from stoke—on—trent, he was jailed in 2012 for his part in a group plot to bomb the london stock exchange. he was sentenced to an indeterminate detention for public protection, with a minimum term of eight years. but in 2013, that sentence was quashed, replaced with a 16 year fixed term of which khan should have served half in prison. he was automatically released a year ago on licence, with an electronic tag. today the queen sent her thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones and who have been affected by yesterday's terrible violence. sarah corker, bbc news. let's cross to london bridge now, where we can speak to our correspondent katharine da costa.

since we last spoke, we have had a little bit more information, and apart from obviously the sad confirmation of the identity of one of those who died yesterday, better news about one of those who ended up in hospital. that's right. in the last half an hour, we had a condition update, and i can tell you that one of the patients he was critical has now improved. that means that two victims are now stable, and a third has a less serious injuries. their identities have yet to be released, and a woman who died in the attack has also yet to be named. as you might be able to see behind me, a large police cordoned remains in place. more than 24 cordoned remains in place. more than 2a hours on from the attack and that is to allow for forensic officers to continue with their work. police patrols have been stepped up in the area, and across london. reassurance for the public, not least because of the attack 2.5 years ago in 2017, in

which eight people died. earlier, the police commissioner cressida dick thanked the public for their actions in intervening and pinning down the suspect. a british transport police officer was also involved in intervening and confronting the suspect. their actions, and the members of the public, have been praised for their actions, their bravery and courage. cressida dick said london is resilient and very much open for business, it is business as usual. she wasjoined by business, it is business as usual. she was joined by the mayor of london, sadik khan, the prime minister and the home secretary for a walkabout to see the crime scene. they met and spoke to some of the officers who were on duty yesterday, and then they continued into borough market to speak to some of the traders and some of the visitors there. this is a busy period in the

run—up to christmas. the market was very much open. they wanted to speak to people, to reassure the public. the public are being reminded to remain vigilant. they are being told there was not an increased risk, but to remain alert. today, the metropolitan police also appealed for information from any witnesses, particularly anyone at that conference at fishmonger‘s hall to contact the investigation team. thank you. london mayor sadiq khan said we can expect to see more police officers on the streets over the coming days. you will have seen, and londoners will have seen, visitors will see, today, tomorrow and over the course of the next few days, met police officers, the city of london police officers, some in uniform, some plainclothed, some with firearms. they are not there because there is a heightened risk or an increase in the threat level. they are there to reassure us,

and reassure visitors, that london is safe, and can ijust say that we owe an enormous debt of gratitude, not just to our police, who responded so swiftly and so bravely, not knowing what they would confront, but also to members of the public who we have seen the videos of, who were so brave on the bridge. but also outside fishmonger's hall, there were many, many brave ordinary people who acted in an extraordinary manner, and i think all of us should be extremely proud of the police, but also of londoners for showing the best of us and the best of humanity. tour guide stevie hurst was one of those who helped to restrain the attacker. he's been speaking to 5—live. his account contains some graphic details. well, we saw, just sort of a handful of people running away from a direction to the left of us, on the left—hand side, from south to north, and i don't know why,

but i felt compelled to jump out of the car to go and see what the situation was. and we saw a guy being accosted to the floor. i ran over to investigate what was going on and the guys were just screaming, "he's stabbed a couple of women". i'm guessing from the bar, from the fishmongers' bar. so they were screaming that. so everyone was just on top of him, trying to bundle him to the ground, and we saw that the knife was still in his hand, he was covered in blood. the knife was still in his hand, so ijust put a foot in to try and kick him in head... we were trying to do as much as we could to try to dislodge the knife from his hand so he wouldn't harm anyone else. so, the guys that were there were just amazing. incredible people. heroes beyond belief. the police were there within minutes, which was incredible. they started to drag all of us off, and that is when you see the guy that had the knife with the suit, he is... he has found a knife that has been dislodged, it kind of went down the side of the pavement, he has picked it

up and taken it away, because we wanted to make sure that that is all that he had. we wanted to make sure that we dislodged that so he couldn't harm anyone else. let's hear what the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has had to say today. there has got to be a very full investigation. clearly there has been a complete disaster and lives have been lost because of his behaviour, and i think there is also a question about what the probation service were doing, where they involved at all, and whether the pa role involved at all, and whether the parole board should have been involved in deciding whether or not he should have been allowed to be released from prison in the first place. and also, what happened in prison, that somebody who was clearly a danger to society, was he given a de—radicalisation programme, or not? i don't know the answers to those questions and we all need to know the answers urgently. i think we have to make sure that the public

are safe. that means supervision of prisoners in prison, but it also means supervision of former prisoners when they are released ahead of the completion of their sentence, to have tough supervision to make sure this kind of danger is not plywood the macro played out on the public in future. let'sjust remind you of the scene outside scotla nd remind you of the scene outside scotland yard this evening. it looks like this evening because it is significantly darker since we last looked at those pictures. we are expecting the assistant commissioner who is in charge of counterterrorism at scotland yard to come out. the last update we have from his press office was that it would be by 4:15pm. you can imagine that the situation with information is changing all the time, and he presumably will want to give the most up—to—date, and what he had sufficient information to cover the rest of the coming hours. to give people a picture of exactly what is going to be happening in the investigation, and what progress the

police have already made. we will return to a new scotland yard as soon as the assistant commissioner walks out to the microphones. the headlines on bbc news: cambridge university graduate jack merritt is confirmed as one of the two victims killed in yesterday's attack on london bridge. the prime minister visited the scene earlier, where he said people convicted of terrorism offences shouldn't be released from prison early. the attacker‘s been named as usman khan. he was on license after being automatically released from prison, when he killed two people and injured three more. in sport, manchester city have slipped up in the premier league. a late equaliser was scored for newcastle at st james park. 2— to the final score and liverpool are set to move 11 points clear at the top, beating brighton.

lewis hamilton has wrapped up the formula 1 title. he will start the final race of the year on pole position. his team—mate has been put to the back of the great. new zealand are on top in the second test. england closed on 39—2 on day two. i will have a full update around 5:30pm. see them. rail fares will rise by an average of 2.7% injanuary, according to the body that represents the rail industry. it means some commuters will see their season tickets go up by more than £100. the independent watchdog transport focus said a majority of rail users did not feel they were getting value for money. katie prescott has the details. christmas is coming and for commuters on south—western railway that means almost a month of scenes like these, as strikes on the line start on monday.

so, the news that train fares will rise again next year, above the standard rate of inflation, has not gone down well with these passengers in bristol. i think the rail service probably needs to be improved nationwide, before they can think about putting up fares. i have just come from cambridge and it would have been cheaper for me to go to paris. today's announcement means many commuters face an increase of more than £100 in the annual cost of getting to work. for example, a season ticket from eastbourne to london goes up £136, tipping it over the £5,000 mark. a season ticket between glasgow and edinburgh will set you back by £4,200 a year, up £116. but the rail industry defends the increases. saying 98p from every £1 spent on fares goes into running the railway. at the moment we're going through, like, a record splurge on the railway network. more money is being put onto the network now than at any

other time since the victorian era. so, we are replacing half of the entire nation's fleet, but we are also putting money elsewhere, by adding extra services where they are really needed. both train companies and passengers say they would like to see a new, more flexible system forfares put in place. this is one of the many issues expected to be addressed in a major review into the rail industry which will report after the election. let's return to our top story and the attack on london bridge. yvette cooper, chairman of the home affairs select committee in the last parliament, joins us now. i apologise to you first of all because we may have to interrupt you to hear from the assistant commissioner, but in the meantime, let me ask you for your reaction to the incident, but what questions you think it raises. i think everybody

‘s reaction to this awful, awful attack is to think first and foremost attack is to think first and fore m ost of attack is to think first and foremost of those who have lost their lives, their families, and those who have been injured. and also those who were there for the terrible impact it will have had on them. and the incredible heroism of them. and the incredible heroism of the passers—by who tackled the attacker. the actions they took, and the speedy response of the police means that at least more lives were not lost, and we should be grateful for the heroism that they showed. you are right, it does also raise questions. i think i'm —— you are right, it does also raise questions. ithink i'm —— i you are right, it does also raise questions. i think i'm —— i am sure they will need to be a full investigation into how this attack happened, given that the attacker was a convicted terrorist previously, but there are also immediate questions that will need to be asked, vertically because there may be other people in the same situation as this attacker, and it is really important that the

government is taking every action to keep people safe. he was originally jailed for an indeterminate sentence for public protection, which david blu nkett for public protection, which david blunkett as home secretary introduced, and that would then subsequently scrapped by the coalition government. he was then on the standard sentence, effectively, which i think have been imposed by a court on appeal. he got out halfway through his sentence. that is kind of routine, isn't it, for most people who have a prison sentence? they never serve the full time. what is the thinking behind that, and is it justified? is the thinking behind that, and is itjustified? it is the thinking behind that, and is it justified ? it is is the thinking behind that, and is itjustified? it is inevitably something people will say, why was he out eight years earlier than the sentence imposed ? he out eight years earlier than the sentence imposed? i think there are real concerns about these cases, where somebody may continue to pose a serious risk to the public. that particularly is the case when you are talking about serious terrorist offences. the reason that this man appears to have been given the

initial ipp sentence you talked about, these special sentences that allowed for someone to be released —— to stop somebody being released if they continue to pose a risk to the public, if they continued to be dangerous. i think that is why there we re dangerous. i think that is why there were serious concerns when the ipp sentences were abolished back in 2012, and there isn't a similar provision in place now. but also, there is a question about, why was there is a question about, why was there no assessment at all? were there no assessment at all? were there really no assessment at all of there really no assessment at all of the risk that this individual posed, or of what action might need to be taken in response to that, given what we have obviously seen, and the events that have unfolded sense? as isaid, we events that have unfolded sense? as i said, we are waiting for a statement from the counterterrorism chief assistant commissioner at scotla nd chief assistant commissioner at scotland yard. just on this question, yvette cooper, of the

attempt to de—radicalise those who have been radicalised, and then committed terrorist offences, perhaps one of the most disturbing bits of information to come out in the last 2a hours... actually, i will return to this question. if we could ask you to stay with us for a few moments. the assistant commissioner in turn they make a charge of counterterrorism has reached the microphones. officers from lanterns to counterterrorism command have been working flat out with security services overnight, as you would expect, to try to establish the full circumstances of what has happened. at this time, we have found no evidence to suggest anybody else was involved in this attack. however, we are still making extensive enquiries to make sure that no one else was involved. our investigative priority at this time is to ensure that there is no one related as an outstanding threat to

the public. to this end, we have carried out two searches at addresses both in staffordshire and in the stoke—on—trent area. our offices have therefore been supported by officers from staffordshire and the west midlands counterterrorism police. iwould like to thank them, as well as the local community in those areas, for the support they have shown as we carry out those crucial enquiries. the investigation team is also speaking to many of those who were present at fishmonger's hall, but i would appeal to anyone who was there on friday, anyone who has not been spoken to, to contact police on oh 807 39321 immediately. we now know this attack began inside fishmonger's halljust before tpm yesterday. the attacker, whose identity was confirmed last night, stabbed a number of people inside the building, and as a result of five people have suffered injuries. three people, a man and two women we re three people, a man and two women were injured and remain in hospital. their families have been contacted

and specialist officers are supporting them. tragically, to people, a man and a woman, were killed during the attack. and, of course, i killed during the attack. and, of course, lam killed during the attack. and, of course, i am fully aware that the media and social media have named one of those victims stop you must understand that i have to wait for formal identification from the coroner, but i will provide you an update as soon i can. on the heart of the entire policing family, can i offer my heartfelt thoughts and condolences to those families of the victims, both the deceased and those still in hospital, and everyone who has been affected by this incident. we are still piecing together the exact details of what happened. it is already clear that this cowardly act was immediately countered by some incredible act of bravery, both by members of the public, and from police officers. we note this attacker was attending an event called learning together, and some of those present at that event were

people who confronted this attacker to try to stop him. the attacker then left the building and ended up on london bridge. he was pursued and detained by members of the public, as well as a british transport police officer, he was in plain clothes, before and officers from both the city and metropolitan police arrived, confronted the attacker, and shot him. the actions of the police and the public are all the more remarkable as we now know the more remarkable as we now know the attacker was wearing what looked like a very convincing explosive device. thankfully, we now know that was a hoax device. detectives and forensic officers remain in the london bridge area and cordons continue to be in place as we meticulously gather evidence required for the investigation, and this obviously it may take some time. we are working as fast as we can. we would ask the public to continue to avoid the area, and we thank those affected by this for their patience and understanding. on that point, can i also thank the

public for their tremendous support and cooperation in response to this incident. the public have shed nearly 500 images and videos with the investigation team so far —— shared. i the investigation team so far —— shared. lam incredibly the investigation team so far —— shared. i am incredibly grateful. again, if you have any images or video and you have not spoken to the police, please do so as soon as possible. it is vital that the ideology of terror is rejected by all of us and that communities come together side by side to ensure that those seeking to divide us will never succeed. as those seeking to divide us will never succeed. as a those seeking to divide us will never succeed. as a precaution, we have enhanced police patrols across london of both armed and unarmed officers, and the public can expect to see an increased police presence throughout the weekend as colleagues from the met, city of london and british transport police carry out those patrols. our advice to the public is to continue with your plans as usual. please be vigilant, but be alert not alarmed. if you do see something suspicious, then

please act, report it to police, speak to please act, report it to police, speakto an please act, report it to police, speak to an officer, or call zero 800 089321. you can report it to the website act. counterterrorism is never something that can be done by any single agency on its own. it needs the cooperation and support from every corner of society. we help and support we get from the public is incredible, and indeed the support from the media has been astonishing in the last 24—hour is. it isa astonishing in the last 24—hour is. it is a vital part of countering terrorism, and i an incredibly grateful for your support. i am happy to take a couple of questions. you will understand the investigation is ongoing, so please make them short. we know, and we have already said,

that the attack on to the number of minutes before it was effectively completed. from start to finish of this incident, we are talking about very few minutes, and yes, we believe he was wearing the vest at the time. he was under the multi—agency public protection arrangements, and there was an extensive list of licence conditions for this individual. to the best of my knowledge, he was compliance with those conditions. i have said we have searched two addresses. inquiries go on, but at this point in time there is nothing to suggest anyone else was involved, and at this stage we are considering that he was the attacker in this case. last question. thank