Shaping the final days
Two London Bridge attackers named as pre-election heat rises
British police named two of the three men who left a trail of bloodshed with a van and knife attack in central London and appealed for the public’s help Monday to learn more about their movements in the days leading up to the deadly rampage that killed seven people dead and dozens wounded.
Khuram Shazad Butt was a 27-year-old Pakistani-born Briton known to authorities, according to a statement issued by London police. Rachid Redouane, who had claimed to be Moroccan and Libyan, variously given his age as 30 or 25 and also used Elkhdar as a surname, was unknown until the night the two were shot dead along with a third attacker who has not been identified, police said.
Ten others who were arrested in the east London neighbourhood of Barking where the two named suspects had lived remained in custody.
The attack launched by three men in the London Bridge area Saturday night is shaping the final days of an election campaign, focusing attention on Prime Minister Theresa May’s role in reducing the ranks of police officers.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he supported those calling for May to resign because of her role reducing police staffing during her tenure as home secretary, though he said the best remedy was to vote her out.
“There’s an election on Thursday, that’s the chance,” he said, citing an “appalling” cut in police staffing levels. “We’re calling for a restoration of police numbers, and there’s a call being made for her to go, because of what she’s done on the police numbers.”
May, under fire because of three major attacks in Britain in the last three months, said Corbyn wasn’t fit to safeguard Britain’s security at a time of heightened threat.
“We have given increased powers to the police to be able to deal with terrorists – powers which Jeremy Corbyn has boasted he has always opposed,” she said.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the brazen attack that started on London Bridge, then continued in the streets surrounding Borough Market.
It is not clear how having more police on the beat would have prevented the attack, since the men were shot dead within eight minutes, but the issue of police cuts has come back to haunt May, who served for six years at home secretary under her predecessor David Cameron before she became prime minister last year.
During that time, police numbers have dropped by roughly 20,000 officers, and the number of armed officers has fallen, as well.
May said Monday that Britain’s counterterrorism operations are fully funded, but London Mayor Sadiq Khan – a Labour figure – said cuts to police have been draconian.
“Over the last seven years, we as a city have lost 600 million pounds (US$775 million) from our budget,” he said. “We have had to close police stations, sell police buildings and we’ve lost thousands of police staff.”