Vancouver Sun

‘We will never allow evil to drive us apart’

- GORDON RAYNER, CHRISTOPHE­R HOPE AND STEVEN SWINFORD

ANY ATTEMPT TO DEFEAT THOSE VALUES THROUGH VIOLENCE AND TERROR IS DOOMED TO FAILURE.

LONDON • A defiant Theresa May Wednesday insisted terrorist attacks on democracy were “doomed to failure” after a lone extremist killed three pedestrian­s and a policeman in London.

The British prime minister said the target of the “sick and depraved” attack was “no accident” as the streets of Westminste­r were “ingrained with a spirit of freedom that echoes in some of the furthest corners of the globe,” making it “a target for those who reject those values.”

May added: “Any attempt to defeat those values through violence and terror is doomed to failure.”

Announcing that Parliament would convene as normal Thursday, she said: “Tomorrow morning, Parliament will meet as normal."

“We will all move forward together, never giving in to terror and never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart,” she said.

“We will all move forward together, never giving in to terror and never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart.”

May was in the voting lobby of the House of Commons when the terrorist struck. MPs were kept in the Commons chamber as Parliament was put into lockdown.

MPs called for a “complete overhaul” of security as it emerged that the attacker was less than 70 metres from the prime minister’s official vehicle when he was shot dead.He was able to stab a policeman to death after he forced his way on to the par- liamentary estate through a gate that is left unlocked.

The gate is always manned by two officers, who usually leave it slightly ajar because it is in frequent use.

Politician­s around the world offered their condolence­s, and in Paris, the lights of the Eiffel Tower were dimmed in solidarity.

A French government plane flew to London Wednesday evening to bring the families of three French students wounded in the attacks to their loved ones.

French President Francois Hollande offered his condolence­s to May for those who died in the attacks and expressed France’s solidarity “in this tragic ordeal.”

“The British and French services are in close contact to conduct the investigat­ion,” Hollande added.

London has been a target for terrorism many times over past decades. Just this weekend, hundreds of armed police took part in an exercise simulating a “marauding” terrorist attack on the River Thames.

British security forces say they have thwarted some 13 terror plots over the past four years, but in recent years the U.K. has largely been spared major terror attacks such as the ones seen in Belgium and France.

Last year, a far-right supporter shot and killed British lawmaker Jo Cox, who had campaigned for the U.K. to remain in the EU. Before that, an attacker claiming to be motivated by Syria stabbed three at a London subway station.

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