Tag Archives: UK Parliament

BREAKING: One killed, many injured in UK parliament attack.

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British police shot a suspected attacker outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Wednesday after an officer was stabbed in what police said was a “terrorist” incident.

The building in the heart of the British capital was immediately sealed off and MPs and staff ordered to remain inside.

David Lidington, the leader of parliament’s lower House of Commons who is responsible for arranging government business, told MPs: “What I am able to say to the house is there has been a serious incident.

“It seems that a police officer has been stabbed, that the alleged assailant was shot by armed police.
“There are also reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster,” he said.

He said he could not go into further details until there was confirmation from the police and security authorities.

Prime Minister Theresa May is safe, a statement from her Downing Street office said, and she was seen getting into a car and being driven away from parliament.

Lidington said an air ambulance was at the scene to take away casualties.

TV pictures showed traffic halted on the nearby Westminster Bridge and emergency vehicles swarming around. The busy bridge was completely shut off to traffic.

Armed police swarmed to the area which was quickly sealed off to the public.

The incident came on the same day that Belgium was marking a year since its most deadly attack, when 32 people were killed in suicide bombings at Brussels Airport and a metro station.

In July 2005, four British suicide bombers inspired by Al-Qaeda attacked London’s transport system during rush hour, killing 52 people.

Two weeks later, there was an attempt to carry out a second wave of attacks.

A spokesman for the House of Commons told AFP:

“We can confirm that the sitting has been suspended in the Commons at the moment. We are aware of a security incident that has taken place.”

London’s Metropolitan Police said on Twitter: “We were called at approx 2:40 pm to reports of an incident at Westminster Bridge. Being treated as a firearms incident — police on the scene.

“Officers — including firearms officers — are on scene and dealing with the incident.”

A staff member in parliament, who did not want to be named, told AFP: “I definitely heard shots. I saw someone in dark clothing go down.”

Westminster station on the London Underground train network, which is opposite the Houses of Parliament, was closed over to the incident.

 

Source: AFP

UPDATE: Shooting Outside UK Parliament, At least a Dozen Injured.

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At least a dozen people have been injured on Westminster Bridge after shots were heard outside the British parliament, a Reuters photographer said on Wednesday.

There were reports of politicians and journalists tweeting about hearing loud crashes outside the buildings.

Witnesses said they saw people being treated for injuries and reported seeing a man with a knife in the palace grounds.

Staff inside Parliament were told to stay inside their offices, the report said, adding someone had been shot.

Scotland Yard said it was called to a firearms incident on Westminster Bridge amid reports of several people injured.

More details are awaited.

UK Parliament Passes Bill To Pave Way For Brexit

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The British Parliament has passed the Brexit bill, paving the way for the government to trigger article 50, so that the UK can leave the European Union.

Peers backed down over the issues of EU residency rights and a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal, after their objections were overturned by lawmakers.

The bill is expected to receive royal assent and become law today.

The result comes as Scotland’s first Minister Nicola Sturgeon, announced that she intends to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence at a time when Brexit negotiations are expected to be reaching a conclusion.

Sturgeon said she wanted a vote to be held between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of the following year.

 

Source: Channels TV

Brexit Bill Clears First Hurdle in U.K. Parliament

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Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan to take Britain out of the EU easily cleared its first legislative hurdle on Wednesday, paving the way for the government to launch divorce talks by the end of March.

May’s government is seeking approval for a new law giving her the right to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty – the legal process for leaving the bloc – after the Supreme Court ruled she could not take that decision unilaterally.

The bill could complete the legislative process by March 7.

May wants to begin exit negotiations with the EU by March 31, starting two years of talks that will define Britain’s economic and political future and test the unity of the EU’s 27 remaining members.

Lawmakers voted by 498 to 114 in favour of allowing the bill to progress to the next, more detailed legislative stage. Earlier they rejected an attempt to throw out the bill, proposed by pro-EU Scottish nationalists.

The Scottish National Party’s Europe spokesman Stephen Gethins described the vote in a statement as “a devastating act of sabotage on Scotland’s economy”.

A majority of voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland in last summer’s referendum backed remaining in the EU, while voters in England and Wales supported Brexit.

Wednesday evening’s votes came after two days of impassioned speeches in parliament, which have underlined the lingering sense of shock among the largely pro-European political establishment that 52 percent of their constituents voted to leave the EU in the June 23 referendum.

Despite presiding over a Conservative Party divided over staying in the EU, May, who campaigned for a ‘Remain’ vote, secured almost unanimous support from her lawmakers for the legislation.

The opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn had also pledged his party’s support for the bill at this stage, but 47 of his lawmakers defied his order and voted against the bill.

Labour and other opposition parties will try to amend the bill at the next stage – due to start next week – to give parliament greater scrutiny over the Brexit talks.