Parliament car crash - as it happened: Police search three properties as focus falls on terror suspect after 'appalling incident'
UK's terror threat level remains 'severe', Theresa May says, meaning fresh attack is highly likely
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Your support makes all the difference.Counter-terror police searched three properties in the Midlands after a car crashed into security barriers outside the Houses of Parliament, injuring three people.
Three police forces were involved in raids in Birmingham and Nottingham on Tuesday afternoon following the arrest of a 29-year-old British man on suspicion of terror offences.
Armed officers had swarmed Westminster at about 7.40am on Tuesday, when a silver Ford Fiesta ploughed into cyclists and pedestrians outside parliament before being halted by security barriers.
Images posted to social media showed a man, wearing a black puffer jacket and surrounded by officers, being led away in handcuffs from the hatchback. Detectives said later on Tuesday they believed the car had been driven to London from Birmingham overnight.
The Fiesta was spotted in the Tottenham Court Road area at 1.25am, the Metropolitan Police said, where it remained until about 6am. It was then driven to Westminster.
“There was not a police car in pursuit of the vehicle” when it crashed, Neil Basu, the Met’s head of counter-terrorism, told reporters.
Three people were hurt in the crash, one seriously.
Theresa May said that terrorists would “never succeed” in dividing the UK, after Donald Trump blamed “crazy animals” for the attack in a tweet.
The crash was an “appalling incident”, the prime minister said, adding that the terror threat facing the country remained “severe”, meaning another attack was highly likely.
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There has been an online backlash to Donald Trump's comments claiming "animals" were behind the attack and calling for them to be "dealt with through toughness and strength".
The US president has repeatedly responded to UK terror attacks quickly, sometimes ahead of police statements confirming the details he is commenting on. He used the London Bridge attack in June 2017 to attack Sadiq Khan, after misinterpreting a tweet by the mayor that urged people not to be alarmed by the increased presence of armed police.
Critics responding to his latest tweet compared it to his reaction to the death of Heather Heyer in a vehicle attack at an alt-right rally in the US a week ago, where he said some of those attending had been "good people" and violence had been on "both sides". Others lambasted his response to mass shootings in America, and shared photos showing the mass protests marking his UK visit last month.
One London resident remarked:
'Oh what a helpful contribution at this difficult time for us," said no Londoner ever.
Theresa May has said the UK's terror threat level remains at "severe", following this morning's crash.
It means a fresh attack is highly likely.
Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has more.
In a statement, Ms May has added: “The twisted aim of the extremists is to use violence and terror to divide us - they will never succeed.”
Via our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn, here is more on the PM's reaction.
Describing the suspected terrorist incident as “shocking”, Ms May said: “For the second time in as many years the home of our democracy, which is a potent symbol for our precious values of tolerance and freedom, has witnessed terrible scenes just yards from its doors.
“My thoughts are with the innocent members of the public who were hurt in this appalling incident. I wish them a speedy recovery and we must be thankful that nobody suffered life-threatening injuries.
“I also wish to praise the formidable courage of our emergency services, who were on the scene immediately and in significant numbers.
“Once again, they did not flinch and ran towards a dangerous situation in order to protect the public. The country is hugely grateful for their calmness and professionalism.
“The threat to the UK from terrorism remains severe. I would urge the public to remain vigilant – but also come together and carry on as normal, just as they did after the sickening attacks in Manchester and London last year.
“The twisted aim of the extremists is to use violence and terror to divide us. They will never succeed.”
Ms May's language - using the words "twisted" and "sickening" - mirror that she has used following past terror attacks.
From our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn:
At a briefing for journalists in Westminster, the prime minister’s spokesman said 13 Islamist and four far-right plots had been foiled since March 2017.
The spokesman added that in March this year MI5 and counter-terrorism police were conducting more than 500 live terrorism investigations – and that by the end of June this figure stood at 676.
He added that the prime minister had been informed of the incident outside Parliament at 8am and has been kept abreast of the situation since then. She remains in Switzerland.
Sajid Javid, the home secretary, is returning to the UK from his family holiday "so that he can take a briefing in person on events'', the prime minister's spokesman said.
Philip Hammond, the chancellor, is the ranking minister in London at the moment.
Police are searching three properties in the Midlands as they investigate the crash in Westminster this morning.
Detectives believe the car involved, a silver Ford Fiesta, was driven from Birmingham to London late on Monday night and arrived just after midnight.
It was in the Tottenham Court Road area between about 1.25am and 5.55am on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said.
It was then driven around Westminster and Whitehall from about 6am until the time of the crash.
The Met said in a statement: "As part of their enquiries, detectives are also carrying out searches at two addresses in Birmingham and an address in Nottingham.
"These searches remain ongoing and are being carried out by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, supported by colleagues from both the East Midlands Special Operations Unit and West Midlands Police Counter Terrorism Unit.
"At this stage, there have been no other arrests in connection with this investigation."
The man suspected of terror offences in today's crash is a UK citizen, according to the security minister Ben Wallace.
He "came from another country initially", Mr Wallace told the BBC. In a separate statement, the Metropolitan Police confirmed the man was British and aged 29.
Security measures around the parliamentary estate would be reviewed in the wake of the crash, Mr Wallace added.
"We will review, see what could have been done. The security we have in place now is built up over experience over years, going back even to the IRA."
The current measures outside Parliament - including heavy-duty barriers - functioned as intended, Mr Wallace said.
The property being searching in Nottingham is a flat, Nottinghamshire Police has said.
The home being combed on Tuesday evening was in the Radford or Arboretum area of the city, the force added.
A statement read: "Counter-terrorism officers, supported by Nottinghamshire Police, are undertaking a search of a residential property in Nottingham this evening.
"The activity, at a flat in the Radford/Arboretum area of the city, is in response to this morning's declared terrorist incident in Westminster."
Two properties in Birmingham are also being searched by police, the Metropolitan Police has said.