The campaign group Cage has expressed sympathy for today’s victims. It also called on the UK government to enact policies that will bring an end to the “global cycles of violence”.
Dr Adnan Siddiqui, its director, said:
We express our deepest sympathies to all those who have lost their lives in this incident and to those many injured.
While we accept that the security services and the police play a crucial role in keeping the public safe, such attacks which require very little planning cannot be thwarted by ever more securitisation and policing of communities. Reactionary policies in the UK have a global ramification and it is important that the government leads with policies that seek to end the global cycles of violence rather than further them.
World leaders have condemned the attack in Westminster. The US president, Donald Trump, offered his condolences during a call to the prime minister, Theresa May, the White House said. He also pledged the “full cooperation and support of the United States government in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice”.
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, also condemned the attack:
I was shocked and saddened to learn of the innocent people who were killed and injured as a result of this cowardly attack.
Canada and the UK are the closest of friends and allies. Our friendship is based on shared values and history – indeed, Canada’s parliament is a descendant of the chamber targeted this morning.
Today’s attack on the UK parliament is an attack on democracies around the world.
The Canadian parliament withstood a similar attack not so long ago by those who sought to instil fear and divide Canadians against themselves. Instead, Canadians came together. I am confident the British people will do the same, and will emerge from their grief stronger and more united than ever before.
On behalf of all Canadians, I offer our full support to prime minister May and to the people of the United Kingdom. We stand ready to offer all possible assistance to the British government, to do what we can to bring to justice those responsible for this heinous act.
Canadians stand united with the British people in the fight against terrorism. We will continue to work together with the UK and all our allies to show the world that freedom and democracy will always triumph.
The leader of the Democrats in the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, also released a statement:
Today, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, survivors, and people of the United Kingdom. The American people share in the outrage and horror at this brutal terrorist attack in London.
The special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States has been critical to securing peace around the world. Together, we will remain strong and smart as we confront terrorists and defeat the threats to our nations. The United Kingdom will always have a friend and partner in the American people.
During this difficult hour, we stand with the British people.”
Some clarification from the Met police. Acting deputy commissioner Mark Rowley said earlier that the officer who was killed was armed. “It has now been confirmed that he was not armed,” Scotland Yard says.
I have just chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, Cobra, following the sick and depraved terrorist attack on the streets of our capital this afternoon.
The full details of exactly what happened are still emerging. But, having been updated by police and security officials, I can confirm that this appalling incident began when a single attacker drove his vehicle into pedestrians walking across Westminster bridge, killing two people and injuring many more, including three police officers.
This attacker, who was armed with a knife, then ran towards Parliament, where he was confronted by the police officers who keep us and our democratic institutions safe.
Tragically, one officer was killed. The terrorist was also shot dead.
The United Kingdom’s threat level has been set at severe for some time and this will not change. Acting deputy commissioner Rowley will give a further operational update later this evening.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected; to the victims themselves and their family and friends who waved their loved ones off, but will not now be welcoming them home.
For those of us who were in Parliament at the time of this attack, these events provide a particular reminder of the exceptional bravery of our police and security services who risk their lives to keep us safe.
Once again today, these exceptional men and women ran towards the danger even as they encouraged others to move the other way.
On behalf of the whole country, I want to pay tribute to them and to all our emergency services for the work they have been doing to reassure the public and bring security back to the streets of our capital city.
That they have lost one of their own in today’s attack only makes their calmness and professionalism under pressure all the more remarkable.
The location of this attack was no accident. The terrorists chose to strike at the heart of our capital city, where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech.
These streets of Westminster – home to the world’s oldest parliament – are engrained with a spirit of freedom that echoes in some of the furthest corners of the globe. And the values our parliament represents – democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law – command the admiration and respect of free people everywhere.
That is why it is a target for those who reject those values.
But let me make it clear today, as I have had cause to do before: any attempt to defeat those values through violence and terror is doomed to failure.
Tomorrow morning, Parliament will meet as normal. We will come together as normal.
And Londoners - and others from around the world who have come here to visit this great city - will get up and go about their day as normal.
They will board their trains, they will leave their hotels, they will walk these streets, they will live their lives. And 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 says it is no accident that the attacker chose parliament which stands for democracy, freedom and rule of law.
She said that was why it is a target for those who reject those values, adding that any attempt to defeat those values through violence and terror is doomed to fail. Parliament will be open as normal tomorrow.
These streets of Westminster are ingrained with the spirit of freedom that echoes in some of the furthest corners of the globe.
She praises the exceptional bravery of police and security services who ran towards the danger as they encouraged others to move away. And pays tribute to the officer died.
Once again today these exemplary men and women ran towards the danger even as they encouraged others to move the other way...
That they have lost one of their own in todays attack only makes the calm and or under pressure all the more remarkable.
Four people have died and at least twenty have been injured in what police are treating as a terrorist incident in Westminster.
Police were called to an incident at Parliament square in central London at 14.40 (GMT).
An attacker drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing at least two and seriously injuring others. A badly-injured woman was rescued from the Thames.
The attacker then crashed into the railing of the Houses of Parliament, before attacking a police officer inside the gate of the Houses of Parliament.
The police officer died of his injuries. His assailant was shot and killed by police.
MP Tobias Ellwood attempted to resuscitate the officer, but he died at the scene.
A group of French students and students from the north West of England were among the injured.
Five London hospitals treated casualties: hospital officials said 12 people were treated for serious injuries, eight more were treated for less serious injuries at the scene.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd condemned the attack on “our shared values”, but said they would never be destroyed.
Large areas of central London were shut off to the public, and workers in the Palace of Westminster, including MPs were placed in lockdown for several hours.