We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
BRITAIN WILL HOLD a minute’s silence for the victims of the London terror attack today, two days before the general election, as questions mount over an assailant who was known to MI5.
With flags flying at half mast, Britain will fall silent as clocks strike 11am to remember the seven people killed and dozens injured in the central London attack on Saturday night.
Londoners have declared their defiance in the face of terror, with the city still in mourning less than three months after five people were killed outside the British parliament in another attack.
“To the sick and evil extremists who commit these hideous crimes, we will defeat you. You will not win,” Mayor Sadiq Khan said to applause during a vigil yesterday.
As Khan spoke, police named two of the three attackers as Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane.
“Khuram Shazad Butt was known to the police and MI5. However, there was no intelligence to suggest that this attack was being planned,” the Metropolitan Police said.
A total of 12 people arrested as part of the investigation have since been released without charge.
The announcement that British intelligence services knew of Butt drew immediate criticism.
“There were some red lights flashing, certainly in the case of Mr Butt,” Michael Clarke, a fellow at the RUSI defence and security think-tank, told the BBC.
The London attack follows the 22 May suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena by Salman Abedi, which killed 22 people including children. Abedi was also known to British intelligence services.
“Certainly with Abedi in Manchester and Butt now, it looks as if there were some indications that on the face of it may have been missed and I think that will be a great concern,” Clarke added.
As attention fell on Butt’s path to extremism, British media reported he featured in a Channel 4 documentary entitled The Jihadis Next Door and numerous people alarmed by his views had gone to the authorities.
‘Why didn’t they stop TV jihadi?’ read The Sun front page, while The Daily Mirror asked: ‘So how the hell did he slip through?’
Prime minister under pressure
After a brief pause following the London attack, campaigning in the general election resumed yesterday and the agenda has been dominated by security issues ahead of Thursday’s vote.
Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to crack down on extremist content online, warning the public: “We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are.”
However, the premier has faced criticism for her record on security in the six years she served as Britain’s interior minister before becoming prime minister last year.
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, when asked by ITV television if he backed calls for May to resign, said: “Indeed I would.”
Between 2009-2016, the number of police officers fell by almost 20,000, or around 14%, according to the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank.
“What they miss, in cutting numbers of police on the beat, as it were, is that community intelligence,” Clarke told the BBC.
Corbyn has pledged to hire thousands of officers for neighbourhood duties, arguing that a grassroots approach would curb crime and radicalisation. But May has insisted London police are happy with their resources and counter-terrorism budgets have been protected.
There has been widespread praise of the quick response on Saturday from armed police, who killed the three attackers with 50 shots within eight minutes of the alarm being raised.
The three men wore fake suicide vests as they drove a white van into pedestrians on London Bridge, before stabbing revellers in the nearby Borough Market area.
The Amaq news agency, which is affiliated with the IS group, said the attacks were carried out by “a detachment of fighters from Islamic State”.
A Canadian and a Frenchman were among the dead and citizens of several nations were among the 48 injured, including Australia, Bulgaria, France, Greece and New Zealand.
Eighteen people are still in a critical condition, according to health authorities.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
More “uplifting” words and gestures from the left, but not single solution offered.
@Alex: out of respect for the victims can’t you give a rest for just one moment
@Alex: the left basically are saying they will still let them score points but won’t let them win. What ever the definition on win in this scenario I’ve no idea.
@Alex: always one…
@Alex: The coalition forces are already bombing ISIS back to the stone age and security forces across the world are doing their best to stop future attacks. I think what you mean is “no knee jerk reactions that would probably do more harm than good”.
@Alex: Why is it you have to make political capitol out of misery.
Maybe if Theresa May hadn’t cut policing services to the bone…
@DaisyChainsaw: yes Daisy , it’s all Theresa Mays fault . Not the Islamists with the knives.
@Alex: the solutions are already in progress.
@Alex: There can be no single solution to anything these days, the world is a troubled place led by dictators and idiots.
@Alex: says you while offering no solution, just taking cheap shots instead
@DaisyChainsaw: She has indeed cut police spending by 20% which i am not happy about but she has increased terrorism budget by 30% .She should cut the foreign budget and give the money for extra police However the uk has to decide which way to go on Thursday . Would the country be safer with Corybn as PM and Diane Abbott home secatary .
@Alex: of course they don’t expect to win only disrupt, I do love the bit about “not a single solution offered”. Problem is their is no solution short of Trump starting a nuclear Holocaust and ending all life on earth.
I believe 130 imams have refused to offer prayers for the terrorists. I’m not an apologist before any knee jerk vitriol is offered. It shows hope that there is a difference between a muslim and an islamist.
@filthypete,any source or evidence,or just your belief,
@Teddy: It’s not Sheitbart or Faux news but hopefully you’ll understand it. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/05/imams-refuse-funeral-prayers-to-indefensible-london-bridge-attackers
@DaisyChainsaw: lol
@filthypete: no prayers? Ouch
That’s really gonna hurt,
@Thaddus T Sawballs: it removes the religious validity and endorsement. Jihadists don’t want to die as bad Muslims. This is one of their great fears.
Of course, another way of stacking the odds would be to feed their corpses to pigs instead of burying them. Since they’re an abomination in Islam, surely decent Muslims would support this?
@Thaddus T Sawballs: it shows a different thinking but the myopia of yourself and teddy shows you to be close minded so there’s not much point offering you a different perspective.
@Tony Daly: jihadis biggest fears are dying as bad Muslims utter b/s like they care whether imans they see as no better than the kuffars say prayers for them, there are plenty of imans who will praise these animals behind the closed doors of the mosque
They will not win, but how do you defeat them, by holding vigils prayer meets and concerts?
@Peedur Dante: i understand thats all that seems to be happening that is my point.
@Red hurley: no, didn’t you hear? Trump is attacking the mayor because of his own poor reading skills as well. Oh wait, there’s increased police presence, a massive investigation with over twenty arrests, and imams coming out and condemning the a tracks. What would you like to see happen?
Hundreds of thousands around the globe marched to end Trumps Muslim ban, yet to see thousands of Muslims take to the streets to protest against these evil crimes carried out in the name of Islam. Cartoons sparked off world protests among Muslims, the silence might suggest they are not that outraged..
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: Maybe if you took your head out of the Orange One’s behind you would see things like this https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/23/uk-muslim-leaders-condemn-cowardly-london-attack happening
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: what are you showing me? words … I asked for evidence of Muslims marching protesting against IS like they did against cartoons…
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/muslims-march-to-manchester-arena-13100687
@Faaez Khan: your losing my point, cartoons did not result in 500 people on a peace march, it resulted in Muslim protests throughout the world, where is that kind of outrage at the murder of children.
‘Evil extremists will not win’ No but they will kill alot of innocent people along the way . Sick of # ,minute silences,They will not divide us,flowers,balloons and other nonsense . Time to get tough
@Robert Preston: What do you propose to do, ban everyone from driving? Deny the victims the respect they deserve? Ban everyone suspected of being a Muslim from traveling? Make Muslims wear easily identifiable markers, maybe a yellow half moon? Detain all Muslims in camps? You and your ilk are very good a knee jerk spreading of hate, and demanding to get “tough”, but fail to offer any real solution.
And before you ask, no, i don’t have a miracle solution either, but I know full well, that creating an us versus them mentality will only further the goals of IS
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus:Grow up i am not denying any victims their respect But we will be doing this over and over again in the near future .You know this has happened twice in london in the last three months and how many times does it have to happen before as you say itsnot a knee jerk reaction Typical left wing liberal nut job you are and i live 7 miles from London bridge and these terrrorists live 1 mile from me in Barking and my town was riaided this morning . Well for a start she could cut the foreign aid budget and divert that money for more anti terror officers including special powers to track these so called suspected ISIS followers 23,000 in total .Tag them all and disrupte thier daily lives . If anyone is convicted of terrorism or supporting and are not british born deport thier families within a week . Enough is enough
@Robert Preston: Yes of course, lets sacrifice any democratic principles for Sippenhaft, and deportation without due process, spoken like a true Nazi
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: Oh please dont call me a Nazi you terrorist hugging liberal . Ireland is probably the safest place in europe right now London is not
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: Idiot if you read what i had written I SAID CONVICTED OF TERRORISM THEN DEPORTED THAT IS DUE PROCESS
Good normal Muslims have obviously no connection to these suicidal murderers so why not help remove the association between Islam and these murderers?
Why not claim the remains of these suicidal murderers as Christian rather than Islamic?
Here is how this could be implemented;
Let the military take the remains of these suicidal murderers.
Recruit military priests to perform Christian burials.
Hide the identity of the priests but not of the deceased.
Perform the Christian burials in an unmarked grave.
Release videos of these Christian burials and watch them go viral.
An immediate benefit would be to cast doubt on the benefits of becoming a successful suicidal murderer. Potential lone wolfs can at least contemplate the possibility of a meeting with St Peter instead of the 72 virgins.
@Paul Daniels: to really rub it in how about a Scientology funeral?
Terrorism is about causing terror, fear and hate. When the target populations of terrorism do not succumb to fear and hate ridden paranoia, terrorism fails.
Londoners and Mancunians have strength, fortitude and real resilience.
ISIS and Jihadism cannot succeed because most Europeans will not succumb.
Of course, there will always be the hate filled commenters on Social media doom mongering and seeking to stir up hate against all Muslims, thereby serving the ISIS and Jihadist agenda but thankfully they are a small although vocal minority.
ISIS and Jihadism are already imploding because no movements born in hate and motivated by hate are sustainable.
Respect to the UK for its handling of the crisis and for the bravery, nobility and dignity of the survivors, responders and the general public.
@Tony Daly: “jihadism is already imploding” are you seriously that deluded Islamic terror is increasing year by year and showing no signs of abating, do you really believe that the defeat of isis will mean the end of the attacks, no amount of patting ourselves on the back and staying the course is going to change the mind of these believers and their warped version of another stupid sky fairy
have your say