Politics: Police defend its decision to downgrade an inquiry into one of the men who ended up carrying out the London Bridge attacks

Two of the three men behind the attacks on Saturday were named as Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane.

• The Metropolitan Police defend its decision to downgrade its inquiry into one of the men that carried out the London Bridge and Borough Market attacks, according to the BBC.
• The police released all 12 people who were arrested in raids at two addresses in Barking, east London, on Sunday on no charges.
• Police are currently searching another address in Ilford, 10 minutes' drive away from Barking.
• Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said policing cuts could affect the capital's ability to prevent future terrorist attacks.
• The Metropolitan Police released the identities of two of the three London Bridge/Borough Market attackers on Monday afternoon.
• Victims are still being named while some people remain missing.
• In the attacks on London Bridge and Borough Market on Saturday night, 7 people died and 48 people were injured. 18 of the wounded are critically injured. 36 are being treated in hospital.
• There will be one minute's silence today at 11 a.m. BST.

LONDON — The Metropolitan Police defended its decision to downgrade its inquiry into one of the men that ended up being part of a group of three people that carried out Saturday's terrorist attacks in London Bridge and Borough Market.

Police named two of the three attackers on Monday evening — Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane.

The BBC reported the Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley saying that while Butt was known to police and MI5 in 2015, there had been no evidence of a plot:

"There was no intelligence to suggest that this attack was being planned and the investigation had been prioritised accordingly."

Rowley added that the inquiry was "prioritised in the lower echelons of our investigative work" and said he had seen nothing to suggest that this was a "poor decision" when asked by the BBC's home affairs correspondent, Danny Shaw.

Late on Monday, police released without charge all 12 people arrested on Sunday in police raids on two addresses in Barking, East London, in connection with Saturday's terrorist attacks.

Seven of the arrested were women, aged between 19 to 60, and five were men, aged between 28 and 55-years-old.

Officers started to search an address in Ilford at 1.30 a.m. BST, which is just a 10 minutes' drive from Barking, on Tuesday morning. The Met says nobody at that location has been arrested. This map shows the location of the raids in relation to central London:

The Labour Party and the Mayor of London blame police cuts for terrorist attacks

On Tuesday morning, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan joined a chorus of voices from the main opposition — Labour — by saying cuts to policing would make it harder to prevent future terrorist attacks. According to Politics Home, Khan said:

"Our city has suffered two awful terrorist attacks since I was elected as Mayor – and we must do everything possible to stop there being any more.

"The Conservative plans mean another £400 million of cuts to the Met, as well as between £184m and £700m a year because of their changes to the police funding formula. That would mean London losing thousands of community police officers."

Khan's comments closely follow those made by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Monday. Corbyn called for the Prime Minister's resignation over cuts to police she oversaw as Home Secretary.

Corbyn told ITV's Rachel Younger that he backs calls from "very responsible people" who are "worried" about her record at national security during her time as Home Secretary. The Labour leader has since clarified his remark, saying he was "articulating what is deep anger amongst those people that have seen 20,000 police officers lose their jobs".

"I think we should vote on Thursday to decide who our MPs are and decide who our government is going to be."

:

• The government needs to give more resources to police and place greater focus on community-based programs for preventing radicalisation.
• There is no evidence that May's plans for increased surveillance and longer detention for suspects will deter terrorists.
• Giving up civil liberties will not deter terrorists.

You can read their full article here.

2 of the 3 terrorists were named on Monday evening

On Monday evening, authorities identified two of the three men behind the attacks on Saturday. They are named as Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane. The police have yet to release the identity of the third attacker.

The suspects hired a van and drove into pedestrians on London Bridge at around 10 p.m. local time on Saturday evening. They then abandoned the van and went on a stabbing spree in Borough Market.

Butt was 27 years old and reportedly previously worked at fast food restaurant KFC and fashion retailer Topshop. He was the "ringleader" and was known as "Abz," according to The Sun. He was of Pakistani origin, and had two children, the newspaper said.

He appeared in Channel 4's 2016 documentary "The Jihadis Next Door," according to the Daily Mail.

Transport for London confirmed to The Guardian that Butt also worked as trainee customer services assistant for six months last year.

Here is everything we know about them, so far.

Many victims are yet to be named as people are still missing

Seven people were killed during the attacks and a further 48 were injured. 18 of those people are still in a critical condition.

Chrissy Archibald, a Canadian bride-to-be who volunteered at a homeless shelter, was the first victim to be named.

There are still people missing.

On Facebook, the family and friends are appealing for the whereabouts of Brisbane woman Sara Zelenak. She was separated from friends at the scene of the London Bridge terrorism attack.

Another friend on Facebook reportedly said she calls her mother daily, so the lack of contact has worried friends and family further.

The Metropolitan Police opened a casualty bureau for those worried about the whereabouts of people they know. The telephone numbers are 0800 096 1233 and 020 7158 0197.

The Mayor of London wants Britain to cancel Trump's state visit

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called for Prime Minister Theresa May to cancel US President Donald Trump's planned state visit to the UK.

Trump is due to be granted a formal state visit to the UK in October but has in recent days embarked in a series of Twitter attacks on Khan. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the visit will still go ahead.

Khan also went on ITV’s programme Good Morning Britain, and said: "There are millions of Muslims around the world who love America, me included. And to play into the so-called ISIS narrative that western liberal values are incompatible with Islam is ignorant."

People are still locked out of their homes

Immediately following the terrorist attacks on Saturday, police put up a cordon for the affected area, while forensics and officers investigate.

That cordon is still in place and those who live within the cordon are still locked out of their homes:

The story is developing ...

Two of the three men behind the attacks on Saturday were named as Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane. Read Full Story