HONOUR THEM
Fearless police risk their lives to swoop on terror suspect
THERESA May led a chorus of praise for Britain’s brave police last night after they stopped a possible second terrorist bloodbath at the heart of Government.
The Prime Minister poured out her admiration for armed officers who “did not flinch” as they ran towards the threat of a dangerous attacker.
Horrified witnesses saw the man smash into cyclists and pedestrians outside the Houses of Parliament in a speeding Ford Fiesta, sending police diving for safety.
Yet without knowing if he was armed with weapons or explosives, armed Scotland Yard officers swarmed from pursuing vehicles to surround the 29-year-old driver.
Last night there were calls for them to be honoured for their
bravery. Yesterday’s attack happened at 7.37am, just yards from where fanatic Khalid Masood, 52, killed five people by driving at them on Westminster Bridge before knifing PC Keith Palmer to death and then being gunned down by armed police.
Surveillance footage showed the Fiesta crossing a traffic island outside the Palace of Westminster before hurtling down a safety “shute” and crashing into a security barrier.
Two police officers were only just able to jump to safety out of the path of the vehicle.
Then the armed officers swung into action, racing to the wrecked car and dragging out and handcuffing the driver.
By a miracle only two people needed hospital treatment after the attack and one was discharged soon afterwards.
The remaining patient, a woman, was being treated for serious injuries at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, but was not in danger of losing her life.
As raids were taking place in Birmingham and Nottingham last night at properties associated with the arrested man, Mrs May said from Switzerland, where she was on a walking holiday with her husband Philip, that terrorists would “never succeed”.
Appalling
She added: “For the second time in as many years, the home of our democracy, which is a potent symbol of our precious values of tolerance and freedom, has witnessed terrible scenes just yards from its door.
“My thoughts are with the innocent members of the public who were hurt in this appalling incident.
“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 twisted aim of the extremists is to use violence and terror to divide us. “They will never succeed.” Home Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted: “Huge thanks to our emergency services for their rapid reaction to incident in Westminster this morning.”
And former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith told the Daily Express: “The honours system should reward those who really make a difference, and without question, those guys today really made a difference.
“While everyone else was running away from danger, they ran towards it. And by doing so, no matter what this moron was planning to do, he was unable to carry it out. They didn’t know if he had a bomb but they ran towards him to stop whatever he was going to do.
“It takes courage and that courage should not go unrewarded.”
Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood, himself hailed a hero after stepping in to help emergency services in the wake of last year’s attack, praised the professionalism of police for “once again swiftly and courageously responding to what looks like a crude and deliberate attack on Parliament”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “It’s appalling, it’s shocking and I think we say a big thank you to the emergency response – police, fire and ambulance – for assisting people.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “My heartfelt thanks go to the brave first responders who were so quickly on the scene following the attack.”
Cyclist Robert Nicholson told last night how he leaped from his bike and chased after the suspect.
Mr Nicholson described seeing how the silver car send one woman flying over its bonnet after swerving into her. He said: “All of a sudden, whipping round the corner – just from the traffic lights – was this small Ford Focus-type car that just rammed straight through the group of 10 to 15 cyclists that were stood there.
Crazy
“My immediate reaction was I wasn’t hit so I jumped off my bike and ran after him.”
Driver Jason Williams, 45, said: “I thought ‘this guy is crazy’. I saw a car driving at high speed. He swerved, and screeched and hit the bollards outside the Houses of Parliament.”
Kirsty Mosely, 31, who was with her husband Patrick, 34, said: “He knew what he was doing and he was focused on what was in front of him rather than being erratic or shouting.
“The first thing we noticed was his car driving at high speed into the cyclists.
“Then he went straight through them and rather than continuing and hitting us he swerved and went over the central reservation.
“The cyclists were scattered everywhere and then we just heard this huge bang.
“We looked round and he had driven into the barriers. We were all in shock.
“The police were there so quickly and there were so many of them.”
Mrs Moseley, from Brixton, south London, added: “He had two hands on the steering wheel and he did not look back over his shoulder to look at the damage he’d created.
“He was just looking deadpan straight in front of him. He looked quite sure. He was just peering over the steering wheel.”
Security was stepped up outside Parliament last year following Masood’s attack, with reinforced barriers of steel and concrete.