Saturday night saw the third terror attack in the UK in three months, a rented white Renault van mounted the pavement on London Bridge mowing down pedestrians, before continuing to the Borough Market area of London a short distance away, where three men emerged from the van and stabbed innocent and unarmed members of the public.
The police have now confirmed that seven people have died from the attack, 48 injured, 21 of those are said to be in critical condition. 36 people remain in hospital.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed that a Canadian national- now named as Chrissy Archbold- is amongst those that died.
The French prime minister has confirmed that French nationals have also been involved in the incident.
A British transport police officer was stabbed in the attack and his condition is now stable. There are also reports another off duty police officer was hurt in the attack.
Questions and investigations are now being conducted of the armed police response
Questions are now being asked about the armed police response after it has emerged that an "unprecedented" amount of bullets were fired from the officers in their attempts to take down the suspects. An investigation has shown that eight officers opened fire on the suspects, and shot 50 rounds. Mark Rowley the Metropolitan assistant police commissioner has backed up the officers, stating that "They approached the suspects who appeared to be wearing suicide belts and acted accordingly with the threat they were presented".
These suicide belts were later found to be hoaxes. A member of the public was also injured in the crossfire, they are being treated in hospital and are not thought to be in a life threatening state.
It has also emerged that customers in the Katzenjammers Bier hall, a Borough Market bar, were told to stay on the ground for 30 minutes by police as armed officers swarmed the area in search of the suspects.
General election campaigns halted by all parties except UKIP
In the early hours of Sunday morning the conservative leader and current prime minister Theresa May stated that her party would not take part in national campaigning as a sign of respect. Other parties confirmed they would follow suit. However UKIP decided it would not suspend campaigning stating; " It would be destroying democracy."
Campaigning for all parties resumed on Monday, and the election for a new prime minister which is set for two days away will continue.
Sadiq Khan has come under fire from American president Donald Trump for some of his comments in the weekend advising people "should not be alarmed". However, Khan, the mayor of London, did not say this about the attack but more about the heightened and ongoing police presence. Many believed Donald Trump's tweet was unwarranted at this time.
Police make raids in early hours Sunday morning in London
Police Sunday morning at around 7am raided the house of one of the suspects in Barking London and have made 12 arrests. The suspect was said to have arranged the rental of the white van just hours before the attack. A neighbour confirmed that the suspect had asked where he could rent a van just hours earlier.
Police have also raided a flat believed to be the home of one of the attackers above a Paddy Power betting shop in East Ham part of London, one mile away from the Barking raid. Many more raids are to come over the next few days as the police ascertain more of who was involved, and if the terrorists had any help, or anyone had any knowledge of the attacks about to take place.
Mark Rowley assistant Metropolitan Police commissioner released a statement in which he said, The Met (Metropolitan police), are working closely with the counter terrorist units to ascertain exactly what happened, and as of now they are making good progress. They are making headway into discovering who the three suspects were, and if they have any ties to any other planned attacks in the UK.
There will be a heavy armed and non-armed police presence in London for the foreseeable future as they gather more evidence.
Cobra meeting held by PM
Monday morning the Prime minister Theresa May has held a Cobra emergency committee meeting in which she outlined four main ways we can stop Terrorism. She said that internet providers need to ensure they are stopping Islamist extremist's information from being readily available, and that it would help cut down the amount of Islamists that are being radicalised, in what she says is a "perversion" of Islam.
She confirmed the terror threat in the UK will remain at its current level of Severe. She says that our terrorist policies need to change, and tougher sentences for those carrying out acts of terror or conspiring to do so may need to be made greater, even for small acts in relation to terror. She also confirmed that police presence in London would continue and people are advised to stay away from the areas affected whilst the police do their investigations.
