Election will still go ahead

THERESA May yesterday brushed aside calls for Thursday’s general election to be postponed in the wake of the London Bridge attack.

The Conservatives and Labour suspended their national election campaigns temporarily as a ‘mark of respect’ to the victims of the atrocity.

But both parties resumed last night, and the Prime Minister made it clear that the election would go ahead on Thursday as planned, saying: ‘Violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process.’

Brexit Secretary David Davis said it ‘may well be’ that jihadis are trying to disrupt the election, with two attacks taking place during the campaign and a further five significant plots foiled since the Westminster attack in March.

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has publicly urged fanatics to target elections in the West. Asked if the latest attack was a deliberate attempt to disrupt the election, Mr Davis said: ‘It may well be. In which case, all the more reason not to... let this put us off course at all.’ He added that it was doubtful whether it was even legally possible to call it off.

An online petition that backed postponing the election was posted on the Change.org website, arguing that the PM should ‘prioritise the safety of our country and its people’.