Unlock the digestive of free editor
Roula Khalaf, the FT editor, chooses her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with a series of fires including in the house of Sir Keir Starmer’s family and other property related to the prime minister.
Metropolitan police said a 21-year-old man was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday with suspicion of arson in order to endanger his life.
In a statement, Met said the arrest about the fire in the four -bedroom house in Kentish Town in the early hours of Monday, as well as a car that set fire to the last days on the same road and a flame in an office building that has a Starmer connection in the N7 code.
Fire at the Starmer family home, which the prime minister rented for tenants after moving to 10 Downing Street in July last year, caused damage to the entrance of the property.
In the statement, Met said: “As a precautionary measure and due to the property that has previous links to a high -profile public figure, officers from the MET terrorist terrorism command are leading the investigation for this fire. Search is continuing to decide what caused it.
“The investigation team is also considering two more incidents – a vehicle fire in NW5 on Thursday, May 8 and a fire at the entrance to a property in N7 on Sunday, May 11 – and are investigating if they can be associated with fire in NW5 on May 12th.”
Met added that all three fires “are being treated as suspicious at this time.”
Met warned Monday evening that it was not yet clear if the three fires were connected, but the anti -terrorism police were pursuing it as a line of investigation.
Police did not believe that the fire at Starmer’s house had been launched by an explosive device, but was still investigating the source of Flame, a person known for the increased investigation.
The three fires with possible links to Starmer are likely to raise concerns within the government for a coordinated campaign against the prime minister.
Met did not say immediately on Tuesday if they were expecting to pursue further arrests.
The involvement of anti -terrorism officers, who are specialists in distinguishing the nature of a potential attack, is common when a high profile property is the subject of fire damage.
Starmer’s house has been targeted by protesters in the past, including in connection with the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza.
The United Kingdom faces several threats, and Ken McCallum, the MI5 leader, warned in October that Russian spies were in a “mission to generate” on the streets of Britain and that Iran was inciting deadly plots in “a pace and unprecedented stairs”.
In June last year, three pro-Palestinian protesters were found guilty of public order after demonstrating outside the London house in northern Starmer.
