We are now closing this blog for the evening. Thanks so much for joining us today. Here’s a summary of the day’s events following the Parsons Green bombing yesterday:
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, says that it is not possible to protect people on the cheap.
Abbott told Channel 4 News:
You cannot keep people safe on the cheap and the mayor is having to make £400m worth of cuts to the Metropolitan Police.
When challenged about a near 20,000 fall in police numbers since 2010, Conservative MP Keith Prince said those were national, not London, figures. He added that when now Boris Johnson was the mayor of the capital “he kept the number of police at 32,000”.
He added:
It is only since Mr Khan has been mayor that that figure has been cut and he took £32m out of the budget to cut the police down to 31,000.
If you are just joining us, my colleague Vikram Dodd has the full report on today’s arrest in Dover and raid in Sunbury-on-Thames.
The hunt to catch the London tube bomber saw an 18-year-old man arrested in Dover and armed police raid an address in Sunbury as investigators raced to thwart a second attack.
The arrest under section 41 of the Terrorism Act was hailed by police and the home secretary, Amber Rudd, as ‘very significant’. Investigators believe the suspect may have been in the port area of Dover to try to board a ferry to leave Britain, the Guardian has learned.
There was confidence among counter-terrorism officials that finding and detaining the suspect at 7:50am on Saturday represented a major breakthrough in the investigation.
It led to the decision to raid an address in Sunbury in Surrey at 2pm, with residents evacuated as armed police and their colleagues searched a home.
A rugby club has taken in around 200 residents who were evacuated from the Cavendish Road area in Sunbury-on-Thames.
One of the residents who was evacuated to Staines Rugby Football Club said residents have been given cups of tea and glasses of cordial and that was “no drama”.
Sarah Richards, who has three children, told the Guardian:
A very polite policeman told us he was evacuating us and couldn’t tell us anything.
We came to the evacuation centre where there’s tea and cordial for the kids. Everyone is calm and there’s no drama.
Police officers told residents they must wait “at least a few hours” before they could return to their homes.
Dan Norcott, finance director of the club, told the BBC that the police contacted the club earlier on Saturday to see if it could take in people.
He says: “We have laid on refreshments and everyone has full use of our facilities.”
The club has been asked to stay open into the evening, Norcott said. He added that the local council is making preliminary arrangements for hotel accommodation in case it is needed.
Commenting on how residents are holding up, he said: “The younger people are more relaxed but the older people are shaken up.”
London tube bombing: Amber Rudd says Dover arrest is 'very significant' – video
Home secretary Amber Rudd speaks after a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee on Saturday. She describes the arrest of an 18-year-old in Dover as ‘very significant’.
London tube bombing: Amber Rudd says Dover arrest is 'very significant' – video
Residents in Sunbury neighbourhood where the raid is taking place and journalists who have arrived on the scene are tweeting pictures of what is happening.
Mojgan Jamali, who lives in Cavendish Road, Sunbury-on-Thames, said she was told by police she had “one minute” to pack her bags, grab her children, and leave her home as police carried out urgent evacuations.
The mother-of-three told the Press Association:
I was in my house with my children and there was a knock at the door from the police. They told me to leave. They said: ‘You have one minute to get out of the house and get away.’
I just got out, I got my three children and we left the house and the street. We didn’t know what was going on. There was a lot of rumours going on, a lot of stories, people saying this and that, but we didn’t know.
Earlier the police came around and asked if we could look after another family in our home for a little while, which I was obviously happy to do. But then they came back later and just said we had one minute.
Jamali, 33, said she did not know where to go, so decided to take her children – aged between five and 10 - to the shops. She said:
I had to do something to keep them entertained and to keep their minds off it - it’s obviously pretty scary. I’m trying to keep them calm. But I know two people on this street who don’t have a car and they don’t have a phone to contact their relatives. I hope this gets settled soon, that we can get back to normal.
She said there had been an increased police presence on the street since Friday, adding: “I only had to open the door and I saw police everywhere.”
The evacuation in Sunbury began at 1.40pm following the arrest at 7.50am, PA reports. Scotland Yard said it was “a precautionary measure following the arrest of a man in Dover”. A 100-metre cordon is in place.
Speaking after a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee, the home secretary, Amber Rudd, said the arrest was “very significant”, but added: “The operation is ongoing.”
She indicated that the suspected bomber was male, saying “we will have to make sure to take all steps that we can to ensure the sort of materials that this man was able to collect”.
Sky News has just interviewed a resident close to the scene in Sunbury where police have cordoned off an address as part of their investigation into the Parsons Green terror attack.
Debbie Forsyth told the broadcaster said she was looking out from her bedroom window when she saw police storm up and people come outside of their houses on Cavendish Road.
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“People have said they [the police] are armed, but I’m not going down there,” Forsyth told Sky News.
The Metropolitan police have issued more details of their armed operation in Sunbury this afternoon.
Police officers have evacuated and are searching a residential address in Sunbury, Surrey.
The evacuation is a precautionary measure following the arrest of a man in Dover, Kent, at approximately 07:50hrs this morning in connection with the investigation into the terrorist attack at Parsons Green Underground Station on Friday, 16 September.
Officers began evacuating the address at approximately 13:40hrs today.
Residents in the buildings immediately surrounding the address are also being evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Cordons are being put in place at a 100 metre radius to facilitate the Metropolitan Police Service’s operation, which is being supported by colleagues from Surrey police.
A search of the address is ongoing and the cordons will remain in place until the operation is complete.
Police would like to thank the local residents directly affected for their cooperation and patience. Local officers are on duty in the immediate area to talk to the community and address any concerns that they may have.
The Parsons Green suspect has been arrested under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000, PA reports.
This gives police the power to arrest someone suspected of terrorism-related offences without a warrant.
These powers allow the extended detention of suspects without charge beyond the maximum four days available under the law that governs most other arrests. The period of pre-charge detention has varied but currently stands at a maximum of 14 days.
Detention must be reviewed at 12-hour intervals during the first 48 hours. Beyond that time, warrants for further detention must be obtained from a court.
Armed police launch operation related to Parsons Green attack
An armed police operation is under way in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, by police investigating the Parsons Green bombing, sources have told the Press Association.
