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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Damien Gayle (now) and Bonnie Malkin (earlier)

Manchester attack: UK threat level reduced from critical to severe – as it happened

Police officers stand on duty on Dorset Avenue in Moss following a raid on a residential property as investigations continue into the terror attack at the Manchester Arena.
Police officers stand on duty on Dorset Avenue in Moss Side following a raid on a residential property as investigations continue into the terror attack at the Manchester Arena. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

  • The UK’s terrorism threat level has been reduced from critical to severe after the arrest of 11 suspects in the investigation into Monday’s bombing of a pop concert in Manchester. This means that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre no longer believes that an attack is imminent; instead they think it is now just highly likely.
  • The announcement was made by Theresa May on Saturday afternoon, in which she also signalled the end of Operation Temperer, saying that “a well-planned and gradual withdrawal of members of the armed forces” from Britain’s streets would begin from midnight on Monday.
  • Nevertheless, Metropolitan police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, who leads counter-terrorism policing across the country, has said that he still believes that there would be more arrests before the investigation is over.
  • The official announcement came after police investigating Salman Abedi’s links in Manchester and beyond launched fresh raids overnight. Two people were arrested after a controlled explosion was used to gain entry to a house in Cheetham Hill. They were aged 20 and 22 and neighbours appeared to have identified them.
  • Residents around Boscombe Street in Moss Side were evacuated and a bomb-disposal team deployed to another raided property. A wide police cordon in the area has now been lifted. Locals said they saw two men being taken away from the terraced house.
  • Crowds attending events across the UK were met with armed police and intensified searches by authorities fearful of a repeat of the Manchester bombing. Most events were going ahead, but some have been cancelled as a result of the raised threat level.

Updated

Here is a video of Met assistant commissioner Mark Rowley’s statement, in which he vowed that there would be more arrests in the investigation into the Manchester bombing. As well as his police role, Rowley is the anti-terrorism policy lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

And this is a transcript of his statement provided by the Met police’s press team:

The high pace and rapid progress of this investigation is continuing. There were three more arrests overnight. We now have 11 men in custody. There are 17 searches either concluded or continuing on various addresses, largely in the north-west of the country.

We are getting a greater understanding of the preparation of the bomb. There is still much more to do. There will be more arrests. There will be more searches but the greater clarity and progress has led JTAC, the independent body which assesses threat, to the judgment that an attack is no longer imminent.

You would have heard consequently the prime minister’s announcement that the threat level has moved from critical to severe which of course still means that an attack is highly likely. I think therefore this weekend members of the public will be wondering what that means in terms of the events they will be going to on a sunny bank holiday weekend.

For practical reasons and precautionary reasons, we made the decision that the resources that we had planned for this weekend’s events will continue. They will still see that high level of policing presence; some armed, some unarmed.

Once we get past the weekend we are going to look forward to stepping down the extra resources we have put in place over the last week. The military support we have had over the last few days under Operation Temperer, [we] will start to phase that out as well.

The last thing I would like to say to members of the public is there is still a severe threat level. If you see something you are worried about or know somebody you are worried about, please do not hesitate: please act and please call us on the anti-terrorism hotline – 0800 789321.

Updated

Number 10 has posted a video on Twitter of Theresa May’s statement this morning announcing the downgrading of the country’s terror threat level.

And here is what she said:

I’ve just chaired a meeting of Cobra this morning where I’ve been updated by the police and the security services on the investigation into Monday’s terrible attack in Manchester. A significant amount of police activity has taken place over the past 24 hours and there are now 11 suspects in custody. In the light of these developments, JTAC – the independent Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – has this morning taken the decision to reduce the threat level from critical to severe. The public should be clear about what this means: a threat level of severe means an attack is highly likely, the country should remain vigilant.

In recent days, members of the armed forces have been assisting police in providing reassurance to the public under Operation Temperer. Today marks the start of a busy bank holiday weekend, with many sporting events and other events taking place, for which detailed security plans are already in place. To provide maximum reassurance to the public, Operation Temperer will continue to operate until the bank holiday concludes. Then on Monday, from midnight on Monday onwards, there will be a well-planned and gradual withdrawal of members of the armed forces, who will return to normal duties. The police will make a statement shortly to give further details of precisely how this will take place.

Since the attack on Monday, our police, our security services, and NHS staff have worked round the clock in difficult and traumatic circumstances, and on behalf of the country I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their tremendous service.

Updated

Police in Scotland are to remain on “enhanced deployment” this weekend despite the terror threat level being reduced, PA reports.

Police Scotland said there was no specific threat north of the border, but armed officers will be in attendance at the Scottish Cup final on Saturday afternoon, where extra security checks are also in place. Supporters have been told to expect delays on entry to the stadium.

Chief constable Phil Gormley said:

While the decision to move to severe is welcome, we must all remain vigilant. There continues to be no intelligence of a specific threat to Scotland. However, the enhanced police deployment we have planned for the major events this weekend will remain in place.

The public should continue to expect to see armed police officers on foot patrol at key locations. Our policing operation will gradually be scaled back in keeping with the UK-wide operation, but will continue to be proportionate.

Updated

Greater Manchester police have tweeted their response to the downgrade in the UK’s terror threat level. “It does not alter our response to Monday’s horrific attack,” chief constable Ian Hopkins is quoted as saying. “The level of resources we have available to us remains the same,” he added.

Updated

Radio 1’s Big Weekend will hold a minute’s silence at the event to remember victims of the Manchester bombing, PA reports. The two-day festival kicked off on Saturday afternoon with an increased police presence following the attack at Manchester Arena.

Before singer Zara Larsson opened the festival on the main stage, the event tweeted: “There will be a minute’s silence at Radio 1’s Big Weekend at 3pm – to remember our fellow music lovers who died in Manchester.”

Fifty-thousand music fans are gathering at Burton Constable Hall near Hull for the two-day festival, which includes performances from Katy Perry, Kings Of Leon, Bastille, Lorde, Kasabian and Little Mix.

Ben Cooper, Radio 1’s controller, promised that extra measures would be taken in the wake of Monday’s bombing. He said organisers would be conducting two rounds of thorough searches for those entering the venue, and that dogs would be used.

Updated

Skiren Khan, 25, lives a few doors down from the property on Boscombe Street in Rusholme which was raided by police this morning.

She said she saw two men being put into a police van at about 9am. “It was quite calm. I saw it from my window,” she said.

Sunil Magnani, who runs a corner shop near Boscombe street, said two men were arrested at the terraced house this morning.

“One of my customers told me two guys were taken away, one Arab and one black guy,” said the shopkeeper.

There is still no confirmation by police of any arrests. A cordon is in place at both ends of Boscombe Street.

Updated

Vikram Dodd, our crime correspondent, has written some analysis of the government’s decision to downgrade the terrorism threat level.

The threat level was raised on Tuesday over fears the network linked to Abedi were at large, with possible access to further explosives and intent on attacking again.

The decision to drop the threat level down one grade to “severe” means intelligence analysts were satisfied that risk was now under sufficient control. That came about through the arrest of those suspects they were most concerned about.

On Friday, Britain’s top counter terrorism officer, assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, said: “We have already got a large part of the network including some very significant arrests and some significant finds. Clearly, we haven’t covered all the territory we want to but we have covered a large part of it so our confidence has been increasing on recent days. But there’s still more to do to get the degree of confidence we want.”

By Saturday morning analysts at the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which sets the threat level, were satisfied the danger posed by the network linked to the Manchester bomber had lessened through arrests and also after examination of materials seized after a string on raids starting on Tuesday.

Updated

More arrests to come - Rowley

Mark Rowley, the UK’s top counter-terrorism officer, has been explaining the decision to downgrade the threat level from critical to severe.

He said the investigation into the Manchester bombing has given a clearer picture of the network around Salman Abedi, and that a number of figures important to the inquiry had been apprehended.

He also said the public could expect to see more raids and more arrests throughout the weekend, in addition to those already carried out in the early hours of this morning.

He echoed Theresa May’s calls for the public to remain vigilante and reiterated that an attack remained highly likely.

Residents of Boscombe Street in Moss Side in south
Manchester, where the bomb disposal unit attended earlier have been telling of their confusion at the morning’s events.
Part of the police cordon has been lifted following the departure of the Royal Logistics Corps. Officers are still guarding a terraced house on Boscombe Street, which has had its windows papered over.
Some residents on the small street were evacuated earlier this
morning. Others, including Harriet Cutchie and Christopher Ntiamoah, both 24, were told to stay inside.
Cutchie, who manages a sweet shop, said: “it’s really confusing. Our neighbour said she was woken up at 6.30am to shouts of ‘police police police’ and then a bang – probably the door being kicked in. She saw a man being taken out by police.”
Several hours after police arrived, bomb disposal experts from the army turned up. They left again around 12.30pm. No explosion, controlled or otherwise, was heard.
GMP has not confirmed any arrests at the property, only that a search was taking place.

Updated

Summary

Here’s a lunchtime roundup of all the events so far today:

  • Theresa May has said the threat level has been lowered from critical to severe, meaning an attack is now highly likely rather than imminent. The threat level had been raised to its most serious status after the Manchester bombing as police sought to establish whether a network of associates had helped Salman Abedi launch his fatal attack.
  • Operation Temperer, which has seen military personnel deployed at major events around the UK this weekend, is to be wound down. The prime minister said troops would start being withdrawn from key sites from midnight on Monday onwards, in line with the reduced terror threats.
  • Police continuing to investigate Abedi’s links in Manchester and beyond have launched fresh raids overnight. Two people were arrested after a controlled explosion was used to gain entry to a house in Cheetham Hill. They were aged 20 and 22 and neighbours appear to have identified them.
  • Residents around Boscombe Street in Moss Side were evacuated and a bomb disposal team deployed to another raided property. A wide police cordon in the area has now been lifted.
  • Police now say a “large part” of the Manchester attack network has been detained.

Updated

UK terror threat level lowered

The threat level has been reduced from critical, which means an attack is imminent, to severe, which means an attack is highly likely, Theresa May has said.

The UK was moved up to critical on Tuesday. If it had not been lowered it would have been the longest ever spell of critical terror threat in the UK.

However, Operation Temperer, which allows the military to be deployed to key sites, will continue until the end of the bank holiday, the prime minister said. May said:

A significant amount of police activity has taken place of the last 24 hours and there are now 11 suspects in custody. In light of these developments, the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has taken the decision to reduce the level from critical to severe.

The announcement comes after Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, said he wanted to see the threat level reduced as quickly as possible as long as it was safe to do so.

Asked if he supported the deployment of armed police, including at the FA Cup Final at Wembley, which he will attend, Corbyn said:

I find it disturbing, everybody finds it disturbing, but we have to make sure we’re safe. I will obviously look into the situation and hope we can reduce the threat level as quickly as possible.

We want people to be safe, we want people to enjoy a bank holiday, which is what a bank holiday is for, and we need to be secure and I think there’s a balance to be drawn there. The balance has to be that it’s police who do it, rather than the army, but it’s also about the strength of our communities.

Updated

Tweeted pictures from the queues to the buses taking partygoers to Radio 1’s Big Weekend show the enhanced police presence.

Humberside police said on Tuesday that people preparing to attend the event in Hull should expect stringent security checks. However, if the latter of these tweets is to be believed, some people are facing more intense scrutiny than others.

Details emerge of suspects in Cheetham Hill

It is believed the two men who were taken away by police in the latest raids were brothers in the same friendship group as the Manchester bomber.

Neighbours identified Yahya and Mohamed Werfalli, aged 20 and 22, as two of the occupants of the house raided by armed police on Saturday morning.

Officers used a controlled explosion to blow open the front door to the family home on a quiet street in Cheetham Hill at around 2am. Neighbours described how their houses shook as about 30 police officers, many armed, stormed the building.

Separate raids also took place in Moss Side, where police are now evacuating residents.

Three neighbours independently identified the Werfalli brothers from pictures. One close neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she saw the brothers being led away by police following the explosion.

“I just heard the bang and I was so scared. I woke about 2 and the bang was about 3. I thought it was another bomb,” she said. “I’ve never been to their house. I’ve been here 13 years and they were here before me. The dad isn’t here, he lives somewhere else. They’re Libyan.”

GMP said on Saturday morning that two men, aged 20 and 22, had been arrested in connection with the search.

Yayha Werfalli, the older brother, is understood to have had a connection on social media with Abedi’s younger brother, Hashim.

Others neighbours said the Werfalli family are Libyan and have lived in the three-floor property for six or seven years.

Majid Khan, 43, who lives opposite the raided property, said the brothers wore traditional Islamic clothing and that their father worked as an engineer in Sharjah, a city on the Persian gulf. He added: “They were very nice people. I’m surprised. I’ve known them about seven or eight years. They were friendly.”

Another neighbour, Aftab Aslam, 30, said he heard one of the arrested men “screaming and and loudly crying” as he was led away by police.
“I was up at 2 and just heard a big band. Very loud. Everybody came out on the street and police started shouting: ‘Go inside, go inside!’,” he said. “There were 12-15 police cars, maybe more including undercover. I thought it was something like a car explosion then I came out and cops were everywhere.”

Updated

Evacuation under way in Moss Side

An evacuation in Moss Side is under way as part of an ongoing search linked to the Manchester bombing, Greater Manchester police said.

Our reporter Helen Pidd is on the scene:

A number of streets in Moss Side have been cordoned off after bomb disposal experts arrived in a big van from the Royal Logistics Corps.

The activity seems to be on Boscombe Street, where a neighbour says they saw at least one person being taken away in the last hour.

The cordon is being widened minute by minute with bit of Yew Tree Road, Thornton Road and Horton Road closed off, plus Boscombe Street.

A police helicopter is circulating overhead.

Greater Manchester police has tweeted this update on developments in Moss Side:

Updated

Shortly before leaving the scene of the Moss Side raid, Helen Pidd noticed two more police vans turn up. She has sent this tweet:

Jason Burke, the Guardian’s African correspondent, has assessed claims that Libya – the home country of Salman Abedi’s parents – has become a “hotbed” for Islamic extremism. Experts, he writes, say that the situation is far more complicated and warned against exaggerating the strength of jihadi groups in the country.

Isis has been forced out of the two cities on the Mediterranean coast it once controlled and, though it still has a presence in Tripoli and elsewhere, has scattered into shifting desert camps. Its propaganda now rarely mentions Libya, which United Nations experts once mooted as a possible alternative base for the group if it was expelled from its strongholds in Syria and Iraq.

Al-Qaida uses the remote south of Libya as a rear base for planning and logistics but has no territorial control and does not seem to be seeking to expand. Local groups, such as Ansar al-Sharia, are fragmented and weak.

Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said: “Libya is relevant but not at the forefront” of Islamic extremist activity across the region.

Updated

Those off to see the Courteeners at Manchester’s Old Trafford stadium have been asked not to bring large bags or rucksacks, or indeed “flares, smoke bombs or any kind or pyro”.

Helen Pidd, our north of England editor, has tracked down the house in Moss Side were arrests were made yesterday. She writes:

Five police officers are guarding a terraced house in Dorset Avenue, the cul-de-sac in Moss Side where arrests were made on Friday. Several plain-clothed officers wearing blue plastic gloves have come out of the property in the last few minutes.

Greater Manchester police would not confirm whether this was the property where searches are under way on Saturday, but it looks like it.

Neighbours said there had been officers stationed outside the property for 24 hours but that they didn’t know who lived there.

Updated

NYT editor: "No regrets" about publishing bomb scene pictures

The editor-in-chief of the New York Times has said he has “no regrets” about publishing pictures from the scene of the Manchester bombing, after they were leaked to the paper by sources in US intelligence.

Questioned about the disclosures on on the BBC’s HardTalk programme, Dean Baquet brushed aside criticism from the UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council, which said they undermined the investigation into the attack. “We live in different press worlds,” he said.

When our police say that, we say: prove it. They didn’t prove it: I don’t buy it. I don’t buy that this hurt their investigation. We have thoughtfully, carefully published information that we publish after every terror in the world - and we should.

Baquet pointed out that his paper published similar pictures after terror attacks in the US, including the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Boston marathon bombing on 15 April 2013. He also said that the distribution of the Manchester pictures among US agencies was not restricted to the most secret level.

“It was at the level of secrecy that made it much more widely dispersed than people are acknowledging,” he said.

Updated

Our reporter Josh Halliday has captured this video of an interview with a neighbour of the house in Cheetham Hill that was raided last night.

Describing the scenes, Aftab Aslam said:

Police were just screaming, shouting at everyone: ‘Go inside, go inside; nobody [is] allowed to come out and nobody [is] allowed to be filming.’ So everybody was just watching from the windows.

Updated

Here’s some more news on the events that are – and are not – going on this weekend, thanks to PA.

Going ahead on Sunday:

  • Great Manchester Run. Thousands of defiant runners and spectators are expected to turn out for the 10k race. Participants should have received direct instructions from organisers by email.
  • Vitality Westminster Mile, London. Organisers said they are working closely with the Metropolitan police, the mayor’s office and other authorities on additional security measures for runners and spectators on the Mall.
  • Radio 1’s Big Weekend day two, Hull. Concert-goers should expect the same security measures as were in place on Saturday.

Not going ahead on Sunday:

  • FA Cup victory parades: Both Arsenal and Chelsea have said the victors will not stage street parades on Sunday to avoid placing additional pressure on the police.

Updated

One of Barack Obama’s top aides has said that the former US president expected more investment from David Cameron and other European leaders to rebuild Libya after the US and allies helped to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.

Ben Rhodes, a former foreign policy adviser at the White House, said that Obama’s expectation was that “there would have been a greater investment in the security force building from Europe”.

Salman Abedi, the suicide bomber who killed 22 concertgoers in Manchester on Monday, was the son of Libyan emigres who had left the country because of their opposition to Gaddafi’s government. Arrests since then by police trying to capture the suspected terror network that supported him have largely focused on Manchester’s Libyan community.

Rhodes told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday morning:

I think we’re sympathetic to the challenges of doing that in a country that is not hospitable to foreigners coming in and providing that type of capacity building.

I think, looking back, the window closed faster than people thought.

I think people thought there was going to be a longer timeline to build up institutions in Libya, and, frankly, within about a year following when Cameron and (then French president Nicolas) Sarkozy travelled to Libya, within a year essentially it was going to be impossible to put things back together.

Rhodes also said the transitional Libyan government “lost control of violence in the country”. He said

When I look back on that I think we all believe we should have done better. What began as a humanitarian intervention led to the removal of Gaddafi, and then there was just an enormous vacuum and nothing filled that vacuum except for the militias on the ground.

Updated

Plans for major bank holiday events in the the UK

Police have stepped up security at a number of events this weekend, PA reports. Most are expected to go ahead as planned, albeit with more police officers around. Plans to bolster security at events, including Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Hull, were first announced on Tuesday.

Going ahead:

  • Premiership Rugby final, Twickenham. Exeter Chiefs battle Wasps in south-west London, with kick-off scheduled for 2.30pm after a minute’s silence for the victims of Monday’s attack. England Rugby advised fans to allow extra time to access the stadium and avoid bringing bags where possible.
  • Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Hull. Music fans heading to see Katy Perry, Little Mix, Biffy Clyro and others should allow extra time to undergo two rounds of security procedures. Police will be on hand at checks at transport hubs and a second check will be carried out at the site entrances. Asst Ch Con Andy McDyer said on Tuesday: “Be prepared to be searched.”
  • Birmingham Pride. The parade begins at midday with a large number of police officers, specials and police staff on hand to keep the public safe, West Midlands police said. Anyone who sees something suspicious is urged to tell a police officer or member of security staff. Supt Phil Dolby said: “I appreciate that people planning to attend may feel a sense of nervousness following events earlier this week in Manchester, but I would like to offer some reassurance that a full policing operation is in place and is subject to ongoing reviews.”
  • Chelsea Flower Show, London. Visitors on the last day of the show are urged to “remain extra vigilant” and report any concerns to staff or security immediately. Organisers say they are continuing to work closely with the Metropolitan police in light of recent events.
  • FA Cup final, Wembley. The Duke of Cambridge and the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, are expected to join tens of thousands of Arsenal and Chelsea fans at the north-west London stadium. The Football Association said enhanced security measures would be in place and fans are urged to arrive at least an hour before the 5.30pm kick-off.

Cancelled:

  • Screening of the FA Cup final at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal said they reluctantly made the decision following the raising of the threat level.

Updated

Our reporter Josh Halliday is at the scene in Cheetham Hill where police blew off the doors of a house before storming in and arresting two men, aged 20 and 22, on suspicion of terrorism offences.

Updated

Hello, Damien Gayle taking the reins of the live blog now and for the rest of today.

Greater Manchester police this morning said they have been carrying out searches at a third address in Cheetham Hill, and another property was being searched in Moss Side.

We have reporters heading to the scenes to find out what’s going on.

Updated

We are going to leave the blog there for now. Thanks for reading. For all the latest news on the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack, please visit our dedicated page.

Saturday’s front pages are dominated by extra security on the Bank Holiday and Theresa May accusing Jeremy Corbyn of making excuses for terror attacks.

The Press Association reports:

GMP said officers made the latest arrests as they executed a warrant at an address in Cheetham Hill, north of the city centre.

It followed searches at a separate property in Cheetham Hill and an address in the Longsight area in south Manchester.

Police make two more arrests

Hello, we are back with news that Greater Manchester police have arrested two more men and used a controlled explosion to gain access to an address in Cheetham Hill.

Summary

We are going to pause our live coverage of the aftermath of the attacks for now. For the latest news from Manchester, please visit our dedicated page. Here is what we know so far:

The front page of tomorrow’s Manchester Evening News:

Hello, Bonnie Malkin picking up the blog for the next little while. Our latest report from Manchester describes how detectives investigating the bombing say they have “got hold of a large part of the network” and made “immense” progress in arresting people suspected of assisting Salman Abedi.

You can read the full story here:

A local shopkeeper has described how armed police boarded a bus in Rusholme, Manchester and arrested a 44-year-old man in connection with the attack.

Daryl Lawson, a 29-year-old store manager of Spar on Oxford Road in the city, told the Press Association that up to six people rushed into his shop as armed police stormed the bus they were on. He then saw a police van pull up at the back of the bus, and believes a male passenger was taken away in it. Lawson said: “Basically some other people from the bus came running in the shop absolutely terrified, they said a number of armed police were on the bus. So I just got them in the back of the shop. I stood and guarded the front.” The passengers “were too scared and panicked” to get a good look at the man, but told Lawson he had been sitting at the back of the number 41 bus.

Updated

Relatives have been paying tribute to 47-year-old Lisa Lees, who died in Monday’s bombing.

Lisa Lees, 47, who was killed in the Manchester bombing
Lisa Lees, 47, who was killed in the Manchester bombing Photograph: Family handout/PA

Her daughter, India Lees, said:

You were the best mum in the universe and the bestest friend that I could ask for. You always cheered me up when I was upset and have always been there for me. You have the most beautiful smile and most caring eyes. You are loved by everyone. I will forever miss our girly days out and talking to you about everything. You taught me to ‘believe’ in myself and to do my best. I will make you proud mum, I promise. I love you soooo much, more than anything and always will.

My Angel- RIP <3

Anthony Lees, Lisa’s husband:

Lisa you are my beautiful, gorgeous wife. You are my life, my soulmate, my best friend. I love you so much and always will. Life will never be the same again. My heart has been ripped apart, Lisa you really were such an amazing woman, the perfect mum to India and Lauran, and the coolest nanna to Jayden. You brought joy and happiness wherever you were and whoever you were with. You achieved so much in your career as a beauty therapist. We are all so proud of what you achieved, Lisa you really were such an amazing woman.

RIP babe we all love you so much.

Till we meet again, love and always forever, Anthony xxx

And Elaine Hunter, Lisa Lees’ mother, said:

To my beautiful amazing daughter Lisa, I am so proud of you for what you achieved. Little did I know that when I spent the day with you on Sunday 14 May it would be the last time I got to hold you as your life was cut short before your time, through a cowardly act of murder and worse was I was on holiday in Turkey.

You were a wonderful daughter, wife and mother and sister. You achieved such a lot in your life, graduating only last year from university. Before that you won an award of excellence in London for your work with children who had complex mental health issues.

You were an inspiration to all and should have had a great life ahead of you. Instead at the age of 43 your time on earth ended, you are now an angel in God’s garden.

The last five years you looked after and supported me through my illness along with your brother Lee.

Don’t know how we will go on without you but I know you would want us too, my Darling Daughter I love you now and forever.

Police make another arrest

Greater Manchester police say they have arrested a 44-year-old man in the Rusholme area of the city “on suspicion of offences contrary to the terrorism act”.

He is the 11th person to be detained by UK police; two of whom have since been released without charge. That leaves nine men in custody, police say.

Fesl Reza Khan, a council worker who helped to organise a Muslim vigil in Manchester’s St Ann’s Square on Friday night, addressed part of his speech to the non-Muslims present.

How can I begin to express the love we have for you? We are your neighbours. We went to school with you. We work with you. There’s but a hair’s breadth difference between us. It’s important for you to know that when you are worried, we want to put our arms around you. When you cry, we feel your pain. And when you fall, our first instinct is to help pick you up.

The half-hour vigil also featured a rendition of Wonderwall by singer Hussnain Lahori and a minute’s silence, which saw several hundred people - including the politician George Galloway - make a heart sign with their hands.

Theresa May will chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall on Saturday morning to discuss the latest developments with senior ministers, officials and security officers, Downing Street says.

Ariana Grande, at whose concert the terror attack took place on Monday night, will return to the city for a benefit concert. She says her “heart, prayers and deepest condolences” are with the victims of the bombing.

Updated

The Great City Games have begun in Manchester this evening. The women’s pole vaulting is underway in Albert Square, where thousands gathered for a vigil on Tuesday night. A 200m running track as been set up on Deansgate, one of the city’s main thoroughfares, which leads down towards the arena.

Colin Jackson, the Olympic hurdles medallist and BBC commentator, told me it was right that the event goes ahead.”

Sport can galvanise us as a nation. I think it’s really important that sport carries on and we show what we can do. I think people will come out because they want to support, not just for the event but for each other. There is something reassuring about rubbing shoulders with like-minded people, who share the trauma that everybody feels.

He said he wasn’t at all scared to be in Manchester. Shortly Greg Rutherford, the 2012 Olympic champion, is due to compete in Albert Square.

Greater Manchester’s mayor, Andy Burnham, said he did not agree with Jeremy Corbyn’s interpretation of the influence of foreign policy on terrorism.

The Labour mayor said Corbyn should not seek to lay the blame with governments. “I have a different view to Jeremy on this,” he told TalkRadio on Friday.

“9/11 happened before any interventions overseas, and the ideology was in existence before that... The people who committed this appalling act are responsible for it, 100%.”

Burnham said radical Islamists had “used things” to justify violence. “We didn’t create it. [There is] a tendency to blame governments for everything, and I don’t think we should.

“Actions of governments can contribute, but let’s remember 9/11 happened before interventions anywhere. We’ve got to deal with what this is – a twisted ideology that has no connection to being representative of the Muslim religion.”

A charity working with homeless people in Manchester has asked members of the public to consider donating to local homelessness charities, rather than directly to the rough sleepers who helped in the aftermath of Monday’s attack.

Steve Jones and Chris Parker have been in the spotlight after it emerged they had gone to help those injured following the bomb blast, prompting several crowdfunding campaigns that have raised more than £40,000 for each man.

Barnabus, a charity which has worked with Jones, is concerned at the effect all the attention could have on these two vulnerable men and has issued the following joint statement with the Manchester Homelessness Partnership:

We want to end homelessness, but it cannot simply be solved by the provision of cash or a room – it is much more complex, and many of the people our trained support workers help have multiple or significant issues. These issues mean that additional support is vital when starting a tenancy, otherwise our experience shows that people usually end up back on the streets before long.

The publicity surrounding the heroics of two homeless people in the aftermath of the horrific terror attack at the Manchester Arena on Monday has brought a lot of attention and kind offers of support as a result.

We have previously worked to support Steve Jones and his situation and are continuing to offer support. As a result of our association, we have been contacted with many kind offers of help and support for Steve in recognition of his actions.

As one of the charities operating as part of the Manchester Homelessness Partnership , we would welcome the chance to end rough sleeping; but this requires an enormous amount of resources beyond a front door and a key.

We would therefore advise and request that anyone who does wish to make a contribution in this respect considers funding the charities who support those experiencing homelessness by providing the necessary support to help them move on with their lives.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the Manchester Arena victims at this terrible time.

Theresa May: 'There can be no excuse for what happened in Manchester'

After Jeremy Corbyn resumed campaigning on Friday by saying the “war on terror is simply not working”, Theresa May accuses the Labour leader of saying that Monday night’s terror attack in Manchester was the UK’s own fault. “There can be no excuse for what happened” there, she tells journalists at the G7 summit.

Corbyn was careful to say that terrorists were entirely to blame for their own actions. But, in his speech in Westminster on Friday morning, he added that governments must also examine the effectiveness of their policy decisions.

No rationale based on the actions of any government can remotely excuse, or even adequately explain, outrages like this week’s massacre.

But we must be brave enough to admit the war on terror is simply not working. We need a smarter way to reduce the threat from countries that nurture terrorists and generate terrorism.

May also defends herself against suggestions that she had left the UK vulnerable by under-funding the police. She says she has protected counter-terrorism police funding and has increased powers available to police.

Corbyn’s spokesman said later:

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Spike in hate crime in Manchester

Greater Manchester police chief constable Ian Hopkins says 56 hate crimes were recorded on Wednesday, in the wake of the bombing. That figure was 28 on Monday.

In the response to the surge in hate crime he said: “Whilst we can’t directly link this to the events of Monday night, we are continuing to monitor the situation and support our communities.”

He added: “We will not tolerate hate crime in Greater Manchester”, and urged people to report incidents.

He described the aftermath of the attack as “an extremely challenging week”.

Hopkins said there had been enormous progress with the investigation but there was still a lot of work to do. Twelve locations have been searched, and activity will continue over the weekend.

Hopkins said additional officers, including a significant number of armed officers, would be at public events across Manchester over the weekend.

He said: “It’s important to remind people that the threat level does remain critical, and it is important that they remain vigilant.”

He says a number of items from the searches have been significant to the investigation, but would not say if items relating to bombs have been found.

Updated

The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, tells Mancunian Muslims that the Manchester bomber “no more represents you than the man who killed my friend Jo Cox represents me”.

Updated

Rowley: Army have taken over guarding of key locations

Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer has said that the army have taken over guarding key locations usually guarded by police allowing 1,100 more officers to be deployed.

Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said while police had made “significant arrests” it would take more time to close down gaps in the inquiry. He said the reason for the critical threat level was there remained a “degree of uncertainty” around the network.

He said:

We need to grow our confidence that we’ve got every component of the network and we have got as full an understanding as possible as to how the device was constructed and whether there is any more remaining risk.

Having made significant arrests and significant finds, there still remain important lines of inquiry for us to pursue. Of course, we have got to try and understand everything we can about the dead terrorist, his associates, the whole network and how they acquired and built the bomb that exploded on Monday night.

We have made enormous progress but there are still some really important lines of inquiry to follow through and it’s going to take a little more time to close down those gaps in our inquiry.

A lecturer who taught the Manchester Arena bomber five to six years ago has told the Guardian that college staff or the thenteenager’s peers reported him to police for expressing extremist views.

The teacher, who asked not to be named, said Salman Abedi was a “slow, uneducated and passive” boy on an IT and business course at Trafford College specifically aimed at students at an “exceptionally low level”.

The man, who no longer works at Trafford College, said he believes Abedi would have not been capable of plotting an attack of the magnitude seen at the Ariana Grande concert alone and may have been used by others. He said: “I tutor kids who are 11 years old and they’ve got better English and Maths than the kids who were on the course I used to teach which this lad was on.

“It’s typically people who are either behaviourally problematic, so disruptive and angry, or need a lot of support and special needs. People talk about the planning and the intelligence you need to plan an attack. This was not an intelligent person.”

Abedi was 16 to 17 years old when he was on the course. He was 22 when he detonated a bomb in a rucksack in an entrance to Manchester Arena, killing 22 people plus himself and injuring dozens more.

The lecturer said: “He was a quiet person, not on the angry side, he was on the quiet side. But it just feeds to this idea of him being used by other people. It’s a course for people who have got very weak English – and general – skills. Very weak.”

Several reports have emerged suggesting various acquaintances of Abedi’s – from his own family to friends to mosque leaders – reported him to authorities for extremist beliefs.

The lecturer said staff or peers at Trafford College reported Abedi to police when he was a student there. “I know people did report him for some of the comments made. It fed through to the police. It was staff or peers. It was reported.”

He added: “This is a very slow, uneducated and passive person.” The lecturer said he was “devastated, like everyone else” when he learned of the horrific attack on Monday night.

Updated

Mark Rowley, Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism commander has provided more detail about how the lines of inquiry that are being pursued in the Manchester bombing investigation.

He said: “We are focusing on understanding [Salman] Abedi’s life; forensically examining a number of scenes, reviewing hours of CCTV from the night itself and the hours and before, financial work, communication, digital exhibits, the accounts from hundreds of witnesses and of course enquiries internationally.”

He added that over the weekend, there will be extra officers on duty, including hundreds of armed officers. “Extra firearms officers have been out on streets because we have backfilled some static guarding posts at key places with military personnel,” Rowley said. “Their presence at these sites will continue throughout the weekend.”
“My request to the public is simple: if this weekend you see something out of place, that causes you concern or raises your suspicions, tell us. If you have those suspicions now about someone, tell us. We will act on all information we are given and together we can defeat terrorism.”

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Manchester is preparing for the Great City Games in Manchester this evening, with an increased police presence.

In the Evening Standard Olympic legend and former chairman of the British Olympic Association Sebastian Coe wrote that sport could play an unifying role in the wake of the attack.

I shall be in Manchester tonight to watch the CityGames and the athletes will know that their performances are much more than just a stepping stone to the world championships, personal bests or prize money. They will also instinctively know that they too will be a part of the grieving and, ultimately, healing process.

The last time I was in Manchester, we were celebrating the triumphant homecoming of our all-conquering Olympic and Paralympic teams fresh from Rio. In monsoon conditions, thousands of Mancunians took to the streets — many of them bagging prime spots hours earlier to cheer our heroes to the rafters as the floats passed through the city streets. Some of those in the British athletics team that day will be performing tonight in front of many who lorded them on that wet afternoon. This is now their chance through sport to stand united with the people of the city and be defiant in the face of evil. It won’t be the first or last time that sport steps up.

In Sheffield hundreds of balloons launched to the music of One Direction in memory of Kelly Brewster, who was from the city.

Brewster was described as “one-in-a-million” who “loved life and everything in it” by friends.

Cousins of Manchester bomber arrested, source says

The Guardian’s North of England editor, Helen Pidd, reports that cousins of the Manchester bomber are among those who have been arrested.

The Guardian understands that three of the 10 people arrested so far are brothers. The three brothers are said to be cousins of the bomber, Salman Abedi.

Two of the brothers, Abderahman Forjani and Abdallah Forjani, run the Fade Away barbers in Moss Side that was raided on Friday morning.

Updated

The police officer pictured blowing a kiss to a woman offering free hugs in the wake of the Manchester terror attack has thanked the public for their support, PA reports.

An armed police officer who was photographed blowing a kiss to women offering free hugs while he was on patrol in the wake of the Manchester bombing has thanked the public for their show of appreciation.

Pc Nick Downing was on duty in the city’s Albert Square when the heart-warming moment was captured in an image which has now been shared on social media.

The Durham Police officer, who was sent to Manchester on Wednesday, said: “Throughout the day the people and businesses of Manchester were extremely supportive - I can’t recall in the past 14 years such an outpouring of appreciation by the public.

“I shook so many hands and was photographed more than on my own wedding day - the Manchester public were amazing.

“I left Manchester that evening, a couple of hours after the vigil at Albert Square had finished, and made my way back to County Durham arriving home at around midnight.

“It was a long but rewarding shift.

“I am proud to have been able to support the people of Manchester, but I know if I hadn’t taken that call there are many other officers who would have done just the same.

“I would like to say that although I played a small part, there are many other officers who worked longer hours, in more challenging situations, all of whom have my utmost respect.”

The black and white photo was taken by Natalie Thornley.

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Police: 'Large part of network' behind Manchester attack arrested

Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer has said that a “large part of the network” alleged to have helped carry out the Manchester bombing have been arrested.

Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said expects charges to be brought against members of the network alleged to have helped the Manchester bomber.

Rowley gave an update of the progress of the investigation saying : “There will be trials”.

But he added that there may be more individuals involved who are still at large.

Rowley said police have reviewed security at more than 1,300 events across the country and urged the public to “go out as you planned and enjoy yourselves”.

Updated

An American general appointed by Barack Obama to head up a global military coalition against Islamic State has said he would have been “embarrassed and furious” over the leak of intelligence from the United States about the Manchester suicide bomb to the US media if he was still running anti-ISIS operations, writes Henry McDonald.

GenJohn Allen was Obama’s Presidential Envoy in 2014 sent to counter the initial rise of Isis. The retired US Marine general who also headed up operations in Iraq’s Al Anbar province against al-Qaida said the leaks to the New York Times undermined confidence between the US and the UK in terms of intelligence sharing.

Speaking to the Guardian at the Globsec 2017 international conference on terrorism and security in Bratislava today, Allen said:

I have absolute sympathy for the British point of view on this. I don’t know the specifics but I think all of us who have such affection for our friends in the UK felt immediate embarrassment over this issue.

President Trump also immediately promised that he would run a very aggressive investigation to find out...If I was still in my position fighting ISIS I would be embarrassed and furious, and seek every possible to find how that leaked occurred.

Because we have a friend, one of our closest friends on the planet, that has given us sensitive information that has now been leaked. For a whole variety of reasons it has made it more difficult for British security and law enforcement officials. So we have to be seen to be trustworthy as well. We have to demonstrate that we can be trusted to protect sensitive information that the British give us.

Allen also issued a warning about further attacks in Europe including the UK by Isis inspired militants as pressure increased on the terror group on the ground in Iraq and Syria.

As the caliphate comes under pressure, as the IS caliphate shrinks on the ground, those who have been radicalised by them will say to themselves, ‘how can I relieve the pressure on them?’ So I do think as pressure increases and the violent shrinkage of the Caliphate’s surface area goes on then I think we should anticipate more attacks like Manchester. Whether it happens or not I don’t know but we should anticipate that possibility.

The general, who is now co-director of the Centre for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, said UK security officials and police should examine if Isis has been using encrypted apps technology to contact young militant recruits like the Manchester suicide bomber and others willing to follow him.

Updated

Manchester Victoria station, which links directly to the Manchester arena where the attack happened on Monday, is still part of an ongoing police investigation and has issued a statement saying there is currently no re-opening date. Here is the statement from the station:

Due to the nature of the attack, the station has suffered structural damage that still needs to be properly assessed and repaired. Until this work is completed, the station will remain closed.

Northern is currently unable to accurately estimate when the station will re-open. As a result man of the services that would normally run into Manchester Victoria are unable to do so. This means there is significant disruption in Manchester and the surrounding areas.

Please check nationalrail.co.uk or northernrailway.co.uk before travelling.

We will do everything we can to keep our customers up to date with more information as we know more.

Updated

Theresa May and Donald Trump are set to have a one on one discussion today, away form the other leaders of the G7 summit.

The two leaders will talk about the threat posed by the terror group ISIS and how they can be fought abroad in Iraq and Syria and across the western world.

Trump and May were pictured talking together in the gardens of a cliff-top hotel overlooking the Mediterranean in Taormina, Sicily, a day after Trump criticised Nato allies for spending too little on defence.

The special relationship has been strained in recent days, with May making an unusually direct criticism of US intelligence leaks concerning the Manchester terrorist attack .

Syria, North Korea and the global economy are also on the agenda to be discussed at the meeting of world leaders.

Updated

Greater Manchester police have said a man was briefly detained in Stretford as part of the ongoing investigation into the Manchester arena attack has been released without charged.

In a statement GMP said:

As part of the ongoing investigation into the Manchester arena attack, police today detained a 28-year-old man in Stretford under terrorism offences. He has been released with no further action.

Updated

Nine people injured in the attacks have left hospital in last 24 hours. The number of those still being treated in hospital is 66, including 23 in critical care, according to the BBC citing the NHS. On Thursday 75 people were still being treated.

A 22-year-old man remains in custody after counter-terrorism officers swooped on an address in Nuneaton thought to be connected to the Manchester attack.

The man was arrested at a property in Earls Road in the Warwickshire town of Nuneaton.

The property, home to a Libyan-born man who fled the Gaddafi regime, is still being searched following an arrest in a nearby street on Wednesday night.

Witnesses said officers with tasers and guns arrested a man near flats in Meadow Street at 8.30pm on Wednesday, before putting plastic bags on his hands and feet and taking him away in a car.

An eight-strong police specialist search team, equipped with a ladder, and other officers were then seen entering a semi-detached home on Thursday morning. Two marked police vans were parked in the street and there was continued activity at the house throughout the day.

Neighbours said Naser Elshetwi, a father of five, lived at the address. They said earlier this year he had spoken of how he had been shot in Libya in a violent kidnap attempt. It is understood his son is Mumen Elshetwi, a student at King Edward VI college.

The Coventry Telegraph reported earlier this week that the attacker, Salman Abedi, was seen in Nuneaton just weeks before concert attack.

Elijah Nyamhdzadza, 40, told the paper that he bumped in to Abedi while looking for his dog in February and recognised the man behind the Manchester attack after seeing coverage in the papers.

He said: “I’d know those evil eyes anywhere. He made my blood run cold.”

Recalling the moment he came face-to-face with Abedi he added: “I’d lost my dog in the park near my home and was asking people if they’d seen him. here were these three guys by the basketball court. I started talking to them and got chatting together. One of the guys started a conversation about religion, and the differences in our religions. They started to tell me about Islam, and we were sharing for about 40 minutes.”

He added: “When I saw him today I said ‘this is the man I saw!’. It looks exactly the same as him. I am 100% sure it was Abedi,” he said.

Libyan-born Naser Elshetwi came to the UK two decades ago, and was later granted British citizenship under then home secretary David Blunkett. He has five children aged between seven and 21.

Witness Susan Wild said armed officers, with their faces covered, were seen outside the property at about 9.10pm on Wednesday.

“I was just putting my rubbish out and they swarmed the area,” the 40-year-old said. “They were shouting ‘armed police’ and there was about 12 of them. The police have been there all night and they’ve taken plastic boxes in there. I would say the family have lived there at least 11 years, which is as long as I have lived here.”

Police enter an address in Nuneaton after a man was arrested in connection with the Manchester Arena bombing.
Police enter an address in Nuneaton after a man was arrested in connection with the Manchester Arena bombing. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Updated

The suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, reportedly spoke to his brother Hashim in Libya 15 minutes before he detonated the bomb, CNN reports citing a spokesman for the militia in Tripoli who arrested Hashim.

Younger brother Hashim Ramadan Abu Qassem al-Abedi - detained in Libya in the aftermath of the bombing – knew of his brother’s movements and about the plot, Ahmed Ben Salem, spokesman for the Special Deterrence Force in Tripoli, told the private broadcaster Libya’s Channel on Thursday night.

The brothers spoke on the phone just minutes before the attack, Ben Salem said but Hashim told his Libyan questioners that he did not know details about where and when the blast would be.

Hashim Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, who has been detained in Tripoli along with their father Ramadan.
Hashim Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, who has been detained in Tripoli along with their father Ramadan. Photograph: Force for Deterrence in Libya/PA

Updated

Hundreds of tourists watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace after the ceremony resumed two days after being suspended in the wake of the Manchester attack.

The ceremony was cancelled on Wednesday to allow police officers, who would have been controlling road closures, to be redeployed.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said a rehearsal for trooping the colour, also known as the Queen’s birthday parade, which was due to be held today had been moved to next Wednesday.

Tourists watch the Changing the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace in London
Tourists watch the changing of the guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA

Updated

Mohamed El Khayyat, who led Friday prayers at Didsbury mosque, said the community has nothing to hide.

“Our heart goes out to all who lost their lives, to their families, their friends, the Manchester community and the wider British public.”

He said the mosque had been overwhelmed by the scrutiny it had come under. He said the trustees had been to a local police station and made themselves available to officers to answer any questions.

Khayyat said the Libyan community in Manchester was “well-educated, kind, generous, always willing to help.”

The Manchester bomber Salman Abedi, who attended the mosque, did not represent the community or its values, he said.

Updated

An ex-army officer who won the military cross in Afghanistan and now represents the Ulster Unionists in the Northern Ireland assembly, has emphasised the primacy of intelligence over army boots-on-the ground in protecting the public from further Isis-inspired attacks.

Retired captain Doug Beattie MC said he was unconcerned that soldiers have not been deployed in Northern Ireland as they have been on the streets of English cities since the Manchester attack.

Beattie pointed out that the military already gave support to the Police Service of Northern Ireland through its bomb disposal units when dealing with explosive devices placed around the region by republican terrorist groups.

On the primacy of intelligence to counter the new threat from suicide bombers and mass casualty attacks, Beattie said:

“It is also important to bear in mind that not all security measures are physical. In fact, many are intelligence driven with monitoring of individuals, items that can be used to create an explosive device and materials on the internet and wider circulation that would assist in making an explosive device.”

Updated

Several hundred men are at Friday prayers at the Didsbury mosque, in south Manchester. They were expecting almost 1,000, but many are said to have stayed away because of the attention the mosque has received since it emerged that Salman Abedi attended.

Ahead of prayers police community support officers patrolled outside and a mobile police video unit was parked at the gates, its camera pointed at the main door.

Foreign Secretary Bor Johnson and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson take part in a joint news conference in London
The foreign secretary, BorisJohnson, and the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, take part in a joint news conference in London. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Tillerson said the Manchester attack demonstrated the “challenge” of immigration.

Speaking in London at a joint press conference with Boris Johnson, Tillerson said: “Immigration is a significant challenge in how we confront acts of terrorism.” He added:

“We seem to have difficulty assimilating those people so that they feel part of our society and would never consider supporting acts of violence against their fellow citizens and their fellow neighbours.

“This mass migration of people ... is a problem for countries all over the world. It is one we have to learn better how to address.”

Speaking alongside him, Johnson put his own family forward as an example of the success of integration.

“The US and the UK are countries that in many ways are built on immigration,” the foreign secretary said. He added:

“My great grandfather was a Muslim. And he came to this country, indeed he came to Wimbledon in the early part of the last century. I went on to become the mayor of London and indeed foreign secretary. So integration is possible. It is what we should aspire to.”

Updated

What we know so far

Updated

The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, says the US takes full responsibility for the leak of details about the investigation into the Manchester attack, Reuters reports.

Speaking in London after meeting his UK counterpart, Boris Johnson, Tillerson said the “special relationship’” between the two countries would “certainly withstand these leaks”.

He added that “hearts are broken” in US after the Manchester attack.

At the Nato summit in Brussels on Thursday, Theresa May confronted Donald Trump over the leaks, saying shared intelligence “should be kept secure”.

Updated

Threat level remains at critical

Amber Rudd
Amber Rudd Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, says the terrorist threat level will remain at critical, and the public can expect to see troops at major events this weekend. In a statement she said:

“I have just chaired Cobra to get an update on the atrocious incident on Monday night. Twenty two people have died and 66 people are still in hospital.

“Meanwhile the investigation continues, eight people are now in custody, it is a live operation and that will continue. In the meantime I would like to take the opportunity to thank the police for the really good work they are doing.

“JTAC have assessed the level of threat should remain at critical while the operation continues. The military are continuing to support the police under Operation Temperer- a 1,000 members of the military are assisting in that - and I want to thank them as well for the great work they are doing.

“Over this weekend normal events will take place. The police have been engaging with organisers of events to ensure they get all the support at those events that people want to have and they may see some additional military presence.

“But I hope they will take comfort from that and they will feel more secure. We must not let this terrible terrorist incident impact on our lives. Let’s carry on this weekend, this bank holiday weekend, with our families and friends.”

Updated

Mohammed El-Haduri, who runs the St Helens pizza shop that was raided by police on Friday, claimed his friend Aimen Elwafi panicked when he saw the news and realised he had rented a property to Salman Abedi.

El-Haduri claims Elwafi handed himself into the police. “He made the connection straight away. He was shocked and panicked when he saw the news,” El-Haduri said of his 38-year-old friend who is currently in custody.

He added: “I’ve known Aimen since 2005 and he’s a very educated person. He came
to this country and he couldn’t say yes or no in English, and in one year his English is perfect ... he went to college and did a masters and he’s a solicitor.”

Updated

Police have escorted two more men from a property in Moss Side where three others had been led away this morning.

After three men were seen leaving with police earlier on Friday, the property was left without a police presence in the form of officers or marked vehicles.

After the first police entry, one of the men still present welcomed the Guardian into the property. The other was sleeping under a rug in an empty ground floor room. Upstairs there were two bare bedrooms with limited furniture.

One of the tenants, who said he was from Kuwait, spoke limited English. He indicated that he did not know why the property had been searched but pointed to where officers had searched the attic.

After the Guardian left the premises, armed police returned and urged people to move away from the property to the end of the cul de sac. They drove the two men away in a van. A police guard was then placed on the front door of the house.

Updated

Manchester police has confirmed it is searching another address in Moss Side after raiding a barbershop in the area.

Man in custody 'rented property' to Abedi

Mohamed Elhudarey, who runs the St Helens pizza shop that was raided by police this morning, has claimed that a friend who rented a property to Salman Abedi is one of the eight people in custody after the Manchester Arena attack.

Elhudarey said his friend Aimen Elwafi, 38, who helped him run Lorenzo Pizza in St Helens, found curtain fabric cut into squares, a strip of metal, and the fire alarms disabled when he re-entered the flat in Blackley, north-west Manchester.

Manchester police said on Friday morning that a 38-year-old man was arrested in Blackley on Thursday.

Elhudarey claimed Elwafi handed himself in to police to help with enquiries on Wednesday night when he saw the bomber’s photo on TV. He said Abedi had rented the flat after responding to his advert on Gumtree. The flat was rented for around six weeks for about £700, he said.

The flat was raided by police on Wednesday night and Elwafi is currently in custody.

Elhudarey, who is originally from Libya, says his friend knew something odd had gone on in the flat, and thought maybe Abedi had been smoking drugs, but it never occurred to him that he could be making a bomb. “We thought maybe they’d had parties in the flat, and were maybe drinking alcohol,” he says.

Abedi left the flat in a hurry after about six weeks around March, telling Elwafi he needed to get a flight to Libya and leaving many of his belongings behind. Elwafi found a sleeping bag and shoes, which suggested there had been other people staying in the flat. Elhudarey said Abedi’s younger brother had been with him in the flat.

Elhudarey has been looking after his friend’s seven-year-old son since he went into custody and had sought advice from a lawyer on his behalf.

Updated

Louise Bolotin, a journalist who lives in Granby House, describes Wednesday’s raid on a property that remains cordoned off.

When the fire alarm went off in the block of flats I live in on Wednesday, I grabbed my phone and jacket and ran down six flights of stairs to get out of the building. I assumed that when I exited the front door, I would see firefighters. Instead I saw a burly police officer in full tactical raid gear – helmet, face mask and submachine gun – and it took me a few seconds to understand what I was seeing.

I live in Granby House, the site of a major armed police raid where they executed a warrant to search a flat as part of the rolling investigation into the Manchester Arena terrorist attack. I was the first resident out of the building and also the first journalist on the scene. Once over my shock, I began taking photos and reporting on Twitter.

It was surreal. Part of my brain was in work mode – I was observing everything going on around me, making notes and being methodical. The other part of my brain was flooded with adrenaline and I was scared. It soon became clear that the fire alarm had been triggered at the very moment the police blew the door off the flat they were searching.

Processing the knowledge that the bomb-maker had hired the flat as a safe house to build his deadly device and Salman Abedi had been in the flat at 7pm last Monday to collect it before heading to Manchester Arena was almost impossible.

As the world’s media descended and began thrusting microphones into my face, as well as wanting the details of what was unfolding I was asked repeatedly how I felt and I didn’t know. How can anyone know what to feel in such bizarre and unusual circumstances?

Later, much later, when my partner arrived with wine and hugs I was emotionally exhausted. I think you’re supposed to cry at this point. There is supposed to be catharsis. I’d felt catharsis the evening before at the moving vigil outside Manchester’s Gothic town hall, in the company of 10,000 other Mancunians. But my eyes remained resolutely dry.

At 2am, too wired to sleep, I rang the Samaritans and howled like a baby at last. Talking to a detached stranger enabled me to let go in a way that chatting to my neighbours, friends and partner couldn’t.

As I write, the Tactical Aid Unit officers are still inside Granby House searching for evidence. Granby House was originally an Edwardian packing warehouse for a catalogue company that is still based in the city. Derelict in the 80s, it was used as a semi-legal nightclub during the Madchester rave scene. In 1990 it was one of the very first abandoned warehouses to be converted into apartments at the start of Manchester’s renaissance.

Today, it will forever be notorious for being the place where terrorists holed up before their deadly killing spree. We residents desperately want life to return to normal. It is likely to be months or even years before that happens.

  • Note: we have removed reference from this post to the flat being rented through Airbnb after it proved to be incorrect.

Updated

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is about to give a speech in which he will draw a link between British foreign policy and terror attacks. You can follow it here on our politics live blog.

Updated

The search still continues at Granby House in Manchester city centre, where Salman Abedi is thought to have spent the final hours before the attack.

As well as working in the third floor flat, which looks out on the main rail line, officers in forensic suits have been searching through large bins in the building’s basement.

The flat was let out by its owners on a short term basis. One resident, Louise Bolotin, said a neighbour who lived on the third floor had reported seeing a man of Middle Eastern or North African appearance coming and going from the flat in the days before the raid.

Bolotin said: “This man tried to kick his dogs. He has chihuahuas that can bark a bit. We don’t know who the man was – whether it was Abedi or an associate.”

The flat was raided on Wednesday. Bolotin said: “It’s scary to think that there may have been a bomb here. If it had gone off accidentally it would have brought half the building down.”

Updated

While the new raid in Moss Side continues, the cordon around the nearby Barbershop has just been lifted, according to PA.

The front door where a shutter was cut apart is set to be boarded up. Police recovered items including a laptop from the barbershop raid, Sky News reports.

In Manchester city centre a cordon remains around Granby House on Granby Row where the bomber Salman Abedi is believed to have spent time in the hours before the attack.

And in St Helens, Merseyside, police investigating the bomb attack have raided a pizza shop (see earlier).

Here’s confirmation of the ages of those arrested so far.

It is the first full breakdown of the arrests made in the investigation to establish whether there was a network behind Salman Abedi’s suicide attack.

In total, 10 individuals were detained between Tuesday and Friday. All were held “on suspicion of offences contrary to the Terrorism Act”.

A 16-year-old boy arrested in Withington on Thursday and a 34-year-old woman arrested in Blackley on Wednesday have been released without charge.

Updated

Before police returned to the address in Moss Side, resident Anita Santinelli describes the first raid, when she saw two men being taken away in two vans.

Updated

Police are re-raiding a property just entered by the Guardian after officers left earlier taking away three men.

More residents on a street in Moss Side, south Manchester, have talked at their shock of being woken up by armed police in balaclavas in the early hours, writes Helen Pidd.

A woman who lives a few doors down from the raided terrace property said: “It was police in balaclavas, at least 20 of them, maybe even 30, they had machine guns. I’ve never seen as much action ever. It was like being in a bloody film. I thought we’d had enough from gangs around here. It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Lots of police. People shouting. We did stay up because I kept expecting a controlled explosion but we didn’t hear one.”

Twenty-eight people are listed as living in the two-up, two-down house that was searched by police.

Updated

Police have just returned to a Moss Side property it raided this morning after making at least one arrest.

Moss Side residents have described a dramatic raid overnight in which as many as three men were seen being taken away by armed police officers. Up to 30 officers, including those carrying arms, swooped on the red-brick terraced property on a leafy street at 1.50am on Friday.

Neighbours described shouting as unmarked and marked cars filled the cul-de-sac. One resident, who asked not to be named, said a man in an ankle-length robe was taken out of the property and told to lie down in the street. Another man was witnessed being dragged down the stairs face first and out into the street.

Two men remain in the property. They were unable to explain what had happened and why, when the Guardian was shown round the house. Neither of the men spoke much English but one of them welcomed the Guardian into the property. The other man was sleeping under a rug in an empty ground-floor room.

Upstairs, there were two bare bedrooms with little furniture. The tenant, who said he was from Kuwait and did not appear to know why police had searched the property, pointed to where officers had searched the attic. There was no police presence at the house in the form of officers or marked vehicles.

“I heard shouting at 1.50am exactly,” a neighbour said. “There were loads of armed police, I wouldn’t like to say how many. You could see the laser dots from their guns on the building.”

The neighbour said three men were taken away by police officers, including one in Islamic dress and another in western clothing. “I was so frightened, it was so loud,” the resident said.

The resident said the tenants in the house had been reported for noise and disruption in the past. “We’ve always had difficulties,” the resident said. “There’s always someone coming and going at all hours. There can sometimes be as many as 10 men in there.”

The neighbour said one of the longest-standing tenants had not been seen for some time but was seen “for the first time in a while” on Monday.

Greater Manchester police said on Friday they had made an arrest in Moss Side. Another property – a barbershop less than half a mile away – is also being searched.

Updated

Hopkins to leave LBC

The broadcaster and newspaper columnist Katie Hopkins is to leave LBC Radio after she became the subject of a police review over comments she made on Twitter in the wake of the Manchester attack.

Hopkins, who is also employed by Mail Online, was reported to the Metropolitan police for a tweet in which she called for a “final solution” as part of a longer anti-Muslim tirade.

The columnist quickly deleted the tweet and posted an edited version after receiving widespread condemnation for repeating the Nazi term for the Holocaust.

In a tweet, LBC announced that it and Hopkins have agreed she will leave the station immediately.

Updated

Ages of those arrested released

For the first time, Manchester police have given the ages of all 10 people they have arrested in connection with the attack. All were arrested on suspicion of offences contrary to the Terrorism Act. Two of those arrested, a 34-year-old woman and 16-year-old boy have since been released without charge. The ages of those still being held range from 18 to 38.

Eight were arrested in Greater Manchester, one in Wigan and one in Nuneaton.

Updated

Armoured police vehicles to be deployed at Wembley

Armoured police vehicles will be deployed at this Saturday’s FA Cup final at Wembley, the Metropolitan police have announced.

In a statement, Ch Supt Jon Williams, who is in charge of public order policing in the MPS, said: “We are working closely with both the Football Association and Wembley to ensure this weekend’s iconic football matches pass off without incident. Together we have a long history of delivering safe and secure major sporting events.

“The focus is the safety and security of fans. Anyone coming to the FA Cup final or the other play-off matches over the weekend will see an increase in police numbers in and around the stadium. This will include extra armed officers on foot patrol around the environs of the stadium, and the deployment of police armoured vehicles to support road closures.”

Armed officers will also be deployed for the rugby final at Twickenham, he said.

Armoured police vehicle at Heathrow Airport in July 2007
Armoured police vehicle at Heathrow airport in July 2007. Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

Updated

Labour is reported to have suspended the vice-chairman of a Surrey branch of the party after he suggested the government could have been behind the Manchester bombing.

Daniel Ewen, who is the party’s vice-chair in Esher and Walton, wrote on Facebook: “I would not put it past our establishment, our right wing government or Theresa May to blow up their own people in order to continue to secure power for themselves.”

A spokesman for Labour told the Surrey Advertiser Ewen has been suspended from the party following the comments.

Updated

Police have raided a pizza shop in St Helens, Merseyside, in connection with the Manchester bombing. The property, Lorenzo Pizza in Corporation Street, was being rented out to “two Muslim lads from Manchester”, according to its owners.

Susan Chowdhury, who owns the property with her husband Steve, said she was “mortified” that the tenants may have been involved in the fatal attack. “They gave up the shop two weeks ago, they said they couldn’t afford it. They had the shop from July last year. The ‘leccy was turned off, they’ve not paid any bills. We’re mortified because my husband’s Hindu and I’m Catholic,” said Susan.

Steve Chowdhury said the two men, in their 30s, both had families in Manchester although one of them had separated from his wife last year. He said they travelled 50 minutes from Manchester every night to run the pizza shop from 4.45pm to 11.30pm.

Steve said he had been due to meet one of the tenants at the shop this morning – but then he got a phone call from the police to say it had been raided. “They were brilliant, really nice people, so conscientious and courteous,” he said. “I know the police are involved but I don’t think these lads are involved – it’s hard to believe. I told the police I don’t think they’re involved in it.”

The metal shutters on the shop had been sawn off during the police raid between 4.30am and 7am on Friday. There was little sign inside the shop of a frenetic search, except some police paperwork on the counter offering to pay for any damage.

Susan said she was “mortified” about the raid but reassured that police were investigating any potential links. “It’s a frightening world and when it comes so close to home you just think flipping heck. I think it’s just one that they’re checking out and it’s really good that they are – it makes you feel safe.”

Updated

Police confident of 'rolling up' network

Ben Wallace
Ben Wallace Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

Police in Manchester are “confident of rolling up” the suspected terrorist cell behind the attack, according to security minister Ben Wallace.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme ahead of another meeting of the government’s emergency committee Cobra, Wallace said: “I’ve spoken to the police. The police are confident that they are in a position to have a good coverage of what’s happened, and of rolling it up. I can’t say any more about that, that would threaten ongoing operations. It is still very live, it is still very hot. That’s why we have critical as our security state.”

Asked if the police were searching for two more bombs, Wallace said: “We are trying to roll up a network. This is not a lone individual. We have to close down every lead we find. We have to follow it up and make sure we make the arrests and the searches that we need to do.”

He added: “There is a difference between the Westminster attack, which was a single individual ... and this lot. That’s why we are on a heightened state of alert.

Asked why hospitals have been put on alert for another attack, Wallace said: “There is no specific threat against an individual event. When we go to critical we make sure everyone is on standby.”

He also confirmed there are 500 active counter-terrorist investigations, and that about 3,000 individuals are on a watchlist of terrorists suspects.

“All those people are in the mix and they have to be looked at. And then below the 3,000 is another 12,000 people who have in the past come to our attention and haven’t necessarily shown signs of doing anything at all, or no longer posing a risk.

“All of that is predominately underpinned by intelligence, which as I’m sure you will understand and the courts certainly understand. Unfortunately the hardest part is we’ve got to convert intelligence into evidence if we actually want to deprive people of their liberty or take certain steps.

Updated

In Moss Side, the owner of a hardware store, said he had seen Salman Abedi at the neighbouring barbershop, which is currently being searched by police. Byron Gibbs said:

“I recognised him in the photos. He spends time with the people. I’ve seen him walk past the shop window lots of times. He was heading towards the barber’s next door. I was shocked to see his face on television. It’s been a long time since I saw him last.”

The shopkeeper, 79, said no one had been in the barbershop since at
least Tuesday and it has since been closed. “That’s very unusual,” Gibbs said. “It’s normally open every day even Sunday.” Gibbs described the owners as Muslim men of Middle Eastern appearance. “Police have said nothing to me about what’s happening next door,” he said.

Updated

Security minister Ben Wallace has strongly rejected the idea of interning thousands of terrorists suspects in the wake of the attack.

Since the blast there have been calls for the internment of about 3,000 people on a terrorist watch list. Those backing the idea include Col Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan; Steve Howe, a widow of one of those killed in the blast; and Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson.

Wallace said internment would be counter-productive. Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he said: “We need to keep our communities on side and if we don’t produce evidence and act within the rule of law and just start rounding people up and put people in internment camps, what we found in Northern Ireland was the community felt they were under persecution and stopped engaging with the police and stopped engaging with the intelligence services and that set us back probably 20 years in counter-terrorism.”

He added: “If we start just scooping people up and putting them away what are their families and other people to think, if it turns out as it was in internment [in Northern Ireland] huge numbers of people had nothing to do with it? That’s the big challenge here: intelligence is not always evidence.”

He said reintroducing internment would be “retrograde step”, adding: “The majority would come from the Muslim communities – that would turn communities against us and our police would not want that. A policeman or policewoman would say that’s a bad idea.”

Updated

Police officers are inside a barber shop in Moss Side as part of the investigation into the bombing.

Greater Manchester police confirmed that a man was arrested at a property in Moss Side overnight, while a separate property in the same area of Manchester is being searched. It is unclear if an arrest has been made at the barber shop.

A police cordon has been placed around four properties – a hardware store, pharmacy and cafe, as well as the barber’s. Uniformed officers and a police van are standing guard outside the front and rear of the property.

Updated

Lord Carlile, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has been speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about how authorities can deal with those suspected of having links to extremism.

He says it was a “grave mistake for coalition government to remove control orders”. In 2011, then home secretary Theresa May announced control orders would be replaced by less restrictive terrorism prevention and investigation measures (TPims).

TPims are, Carlile says this morning, “better than nothing”, but he argues the country “would be a safer place” if control orders were reintroduced:

There was a political resistance to imposing these orders on people who were reasonably suspected of being terrorists.

He says TPims are rarely applied but notes:

The use of TPims has increased since the 2015 election from about zero to seven today.

He says he suspects the current home secretary, Amber Rudd, would favour greater use of TPims. But Carlile rejects the idea floated by Jeremy Corbyn and others that cuts in policing numbers have undermined intelligence-gathering:

It’s very easy to say we need more police … I do not believe the number of police officers is the central issue.

Updated

Here is the statement from Greater Manchester police about its latest search:

We are currently carrying out a search at an address at a property in Moss Side in connection with the attack on the Manchester Arena on Monday. The search is being carried out at a separate property to the address where a man was arrested earlier this morning (Friday 26 May 2017).

As it stands, 10 people in total have been arrested in connection with the investigation, of which a man and a woman have since been released without charge.

Eight men remain in custody for questioning.

Updated

Greater Manchester police are searching an address in Moss Side separate to where the latest arrest was made overnight.

Searches were also being carried out on Friday morning at St Helens, Merseyside.

Updated

Arrests latest

A total of 10 arrests have been made in connection with the attack on Manchester Arena; two of those detained have been released.

Here is what we know about the arrests and most recent raids:

  • Police arrested a man in Manchester’s Moss Side in the early hours of Friday in connection with the attack on Manchester Arena.
  • Eight men are in custody. One of them is believed to be Ismail Abedi, 23, the brother of the bomber, Salman Abedi.
  • A man and a woman arrested earlier in the investigation have been released without charge.
  • Police raids in the south of the city on Thursday uncovered suspicious materials similar to those used in the bombing that killed 22 people. Bomb disposal experts were brought in to search a house in Wigan on Thursday evening.
  • Officers have warned that accomplices may still be at large and bomb-making equipment could be as yet undiscovered.

Updated

Manchester’s Great City Games will go ahead in the city centre today.

Authorities took the decision to let the event go ahead in the wake of the terror attack on Monday. It will take place in a temporary arena in Albert Square, the site of Tuesday’s vigil for those killed and injured.

The former Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford, who will take part in the games, said it was an important symbol of resilience:

After such a tragic and heinous event, I think it’s important that everybody comes together and shows it’s not going to stop people leading a normal life.

That seems to be the overriding sense from everybody here. I think it’s wonderful that it’s still going ahead and I hope it will be a lovely tribute to those who lost their lives and those injured in the attack.

Sunday’s Great Manchester Run will also go ahead.

The UK government’s emergency Cobra committee will meet again this morning in Whitehall. The home secretary, Amber Rudd, will chair the meeting, as Theresa May is attending the G7 summit in Sicily.

Updated

UK resumes intelligence-sharing with US

British police have resumed sharing information with their counterparts in the US after a brief suspension over a series of leaks by American officials to journalists providing details of the Manchester bomb investigation.

The suspension, announced early on Thursday morning, lasted less than 24 hours. It was primarily intended to send a message to US law enforcement agencies registering anger at the casual way in which sensitive information was disclosed to American journalists.

Mark Rowley, the UK’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, confirmed that they had “received fresh assurances” from the US and were now working closely with them again.

Updated

Rudd: Police cuts ‘not a factor’ in attack

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, has denied that cuts in police forces contributed to Monday’s terror atrocity in Manchester, Press Association reports:

Rudd was confronted on BBC1’s Question Time on Thursday night by a member of the studio audience who said Theresa May had been warned by the Police Federation that cuts in frontline officers would undermine their ability to gather low-level intelligence about possible threats. Rudd insisted that the majority of such intelligence came from community leaders operating within the Prevent counter-terrorism programme, rather than from police officers on the street.

The audience member said:

We are 20,000 police officers down and we get atrocities like this. Does the government not expect this?

Rudd responded:

I don’t accept that. I have asked the head of counter-terrorism whether this is about resources. It is not.

There may a conversation to have about policing, we may have that at some stage. But now is not that conversation. We must not imply that this terrorist activity may not have taken place if there had been more policing.

Good counter-terrorism is when you have close relationships between the policing and intelligence services. That is what we have. That is why the UK has a strong counter-terrorism network. It’s also about making sure we get in early on radicalisation. But it’s not about those pure numbers on the street.

New raid in St Helens, Merseyside

Greater Manchester police says it is undertaking searches of a home in St Helens:

This morning (Friday 26 May 2017) we have been carrying out searches at an address in the St Helens area of Merseyside. The arrest is connected to Monday’s attack on the Manchester Arena, but this is a fast-moving investigation and we are keeping an open mind at this stage.

As it stands, 10 people in total have been arrested in connection with the investigation, of which a man and a woman have since been released without charge.

Eight men remain in custody for questioning.

Updated

What we know so far

The investigation

  • Police arrested a man in Manchester’s Moss Side in the early hours of Friday in connection with the attack on Manchester Arena.
  • Eight men are now in custody. One of them is believed to be Ismail Abedi, 23, the brother of the bomber, Salman Abedi.
  • A man and a woman arrested earlier in the investigation have been released without charge.
  • Police raids in the south of the city on Thursday uncovered suspicious materials similar to those used in the bombing that killed 22 people. Bomb disposal experts were brought in to search a house in Wigan on Thursday evening.
  • Officers have warned that accomplices may still be at large and bomb-making equipment could be as yet undiscovered.
  • UK officials have begun sharing intelligence with US counterparts again, after reassurances were made following a series of leaks to American media.
  • The threat level remains at “critical”, with troops continuing to guard key locations and armed police for the first time patrolling trains outside the capital.

The perpetrator

  • Abedi is believed to have returned to the UK from Libya only days before Monday’s attack. He travelled via Istanbul last Thursday, and Düsseldorf.
  • Turkish officials said they had no record of Abedi entering Syria.
  • Republican congressman Mike McCaul, chair of the homeland security committee, said Abedi had used triacetone triperoxide (TATP), the explosive used in the 7/7 attacks on London, as well as the Paris and Brussels attacks.
A minute’s silence in St Ann’s Square, Manchester, to remember the victims of the terror attack.
A minute’s silence in St Ann’s Square, Manchester, to remember the victims of the terror attack. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

The victims

  • All 22 people killed in the attack have now been named. You can read about them here.
  • Of the 116 people taken to eight hospitals in the wake of the attack, 75 are still being treated, of whom 23 remain in critical care, some with “life-changing injuries”. This includes five children at the Royal Manchester children’s hospital, which was visited by the Queen on Thursday.
  • NHS England has sent an alert to England’s 27 major trauma centres to prepare for a possible further incident over the bank holiday weekend.

Election campaign resumes

  • The home secretary, Amber Rudd, has denied that government cuts to police numbers contributed to the attack.
  • Rudd will chair this morning’s meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee, as Theresa May attends the G7 summit in Sicily.
  • Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will today make a speech drawing a link between Britain’s foreign policy and terror attack. But he will add:

That assessment in no way reduces the guilt of those who attack our children. Those terrorists will forever be reviled and held to account for their actions. But an informed understanding of the causes of terrorism is an essential part of an effective response that will protect the security of our people that fights rather than fuels terrorism.

Updated

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