With permission Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the terrorist attacks we have seen since Parliament last sat.

There has been no summer like it.

When we rose seven weeks ago, we left this House in the wake of the worst terrorist attack our country had seen in over a decade. With Khalid Masood trying to strike at the heart of our democracy.

He was foiled that day by one of our brave police officers. But tragically it has proved to be the first of many attempts to bring terror and hate to our streets.

Two months later, a cowardly and devastating attack in Manchester left 22 people dead and 59 injured after a suicide bomber targeted children at a concert in the Manchester Arena.

On the 3rd of June, a van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on London Bridge before three men got out of the vehicle and began stabbing people in nearby Borough market. Eight people were killed and 48 injured.

And then on Monday, almost exactly one year after Jo Cox was brutally murdered in Birstall, we woke to the news of the return of far right terror, when a man viciously drove into a group of Muslim worshippers in North London. One man who had fallen ill before the attack died and nine others were treated in hospital.

Westminster. The Manchester Arena. London Bridge. And now Finsbury Park.

36 innocent people dead and over 150 hospitalised. A tragic loss of innocent life.

Last week I met a mother and father who had lost their daughter in the vicious attacks on London Bridge. She had been stabbed while out celebrating her new job with a friend in Borough Market.

Just under two weeks before, she planned to be at the arena in Manchester where Salman Abedi committed his heinous crimes, but she decided not to use her ticket.

She had come to London to enjoy a wonderful trip away, a once in a lifetime experience. But instead it was the last trip she ever made.

I know everyone in this House will want to join me in expressing our sorrow for the pain her family will be feeling. And all those families who have lost loved ones.

As well as passing on our thoughts and prayers for those victims who are still trying to recover from the trauma and tragedy of these events.

I also know that the House will want to join me in acknowledging the incredible efforts of our emergency services during this difficult period.

The events of recent months serve to remind us of the bravery, professionalism and, above all, incredible sacrifice made by those who work to keep us safe.

As Home Secretary there is nothing more saddening than standing before Parliament to deliver a statement like this.

These acts of terrorism represent the very worst of humanity. They seek to spread fear, intolerance, hate.

Countering this threat has always been a crucial part of the work of this government. That’s why we have introduced measures to disrupt the travel of foreign fighters. That’s why we have passed the Investigatory Powers Act which gives the police and intelligence service more powers and tools that they need to keep the public safe. And that’s why just seven weeks ago we legislated to strengthen our response to terrorist financing with the Criminal Finances Act.

We have also protected overall police funding in real terms since 2015, increased counter-terrorism budgets and funded an uplift in armed police officers. We are now in the process of recruiting over 1,900 additional security and intelligence staff.

The Channel programme, which offers voluntary tailored programmes of support to people assessed as being at risk of radicalisation, has supported over 1,000 at risk individuals since 2012.

And following referrals from the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit, social media providers have removed 270,000 pieces of illegal terrorist material since February 2010. But we are entering a new phase of global terrorism and many of the challenges we are facing are unprecedented.

We now believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face. Between June 2013 and the Westminster Bridge attack in March this year, the security services foiled 13 plots linked to or inspired by Islamist extremists. But since just then, we have seen 5 plots prevented as well as 3 such Islamist extremist plots succeeding and the appalling attack of course on Finsbury Park earlier this week. We must do more.

We must do more to defeat ideologies of hatred by turning people’s minds away from violence and towards pluralistic British values.

We must make sure that these ideologies are not able to flourish in the first place.

We must do more to force tech companies to take down terror-related content from their platforms.

And we must also do more to identify, challenge and stamp out the extremism that lurks in our communities.

That is why we will be setting up a Commission for Countering Extremism. For just as the Labour government in the 1970s set us on a course to tackling racial inequality in this country by setting up the Commission for Racial Equality, we need – and must – do more to tackle these extremists who seek to radicalise and weaponise young people in Britain today.

Doing more also means asking difficult questions about what has gone wrong. In light of the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, Britain’s counter-terrorism strategy will be reviewed to make sure that the police and the security services have what they need to keep us safe.

In addition to this, there will be a review of the handling of recent terror attacks to look at whether lessons can be learned about our approach. I am pleased to announce that David Anderson, former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation will be overseeing it.

Mr Speaker, what we have witnessed in Manchester and in London are the depraved actions of murderers, intent to tear our country apart. But each act of hate has been met by overwhelming defiance.

In Borough Market recently, I saw stallholders dishing out olives into plastic pots, shoppers searching for delicious treats and tourists flicking through guidebooks in the shadow of the Shard. Rather than being divided by recent violence, people seemed ever closer together.

We should follow the example of the traders and the shoppers of Borough Market.

What terrorists want is for us to fear and turn in on one another.

But we will never give terrorists what they want.

We will stand together and we will make the point that terrorists will never win. That our values, our country, our unity will prevail.

I commend this statement to the House.

The minister, who was appointed to his new post following the recent general election, was met and briefed by Border Force Director General Sir Charles Montgomery on the crucial part officers play in protecting the UK border.

He also witnessed the Heathrow Joint Border Force policing team conducting tarmac work, which included an aircraft being searched, and was given an overview of arrivals controls including e-gates.

He also observed roving officers with responsibility for safeguarding and modern slavery, as well as officers trained in forgery and impostor detections.

The visit concluded with a demonstration of detection activity in the customs channels, including x-ray scanning equipment for drug swallowers and witnessing detector dogs at work.

Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis

Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said:

Seeing frontline Border Force officers in action at Heathrow showed me what an important job they do in keeping our country safe and secure from illicit people and goods.

I am also very grateful to Sir Charles and other officers for sharing their invaluable expertise with me. This was an extremely interesting visit which gave me an insight into the tremendous variety of work which goes on at Heathrow.

I am excited to be taking on the immigration and borders brief for the Home Office and look forward to working with staff to achieve our goals together.

The minister also met Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye during the visit.

A £5 million plan to cut traffic noise for many people living along an 11.5 mile section of the M40 in Buckinghamshire and South Oxfordshire is now on show .

Highways England will install new noise reducing barriers at eight locations along the M40 between Loudwater (near junction 3 of the motorway) and Stokenchurch (near junction 5) in Buckinghamshire.

The plans are now available online, and a public event will be held on 30 June in High Wycombe. Construction is due to start in the autumn.

existing noise reduction barriers along the M40

Highways England project manager David Owen said:

These new barriers will help to cut traffic noise for many people living in these eight locations. Together with the resurfacing work that we have already completed, they should bring real improvements for communities along the M40.

We have been working hard with our partners to make sure that the plans will deliver the most benefit for the greatest number of people, and we’re now able to share our plans with people locally and answer their questions. This is a great opportunity to find out more before we start work, both online and in person, so please visit our website and come and see us on 30 June.

The proposals have been developed by Highways England in partnership with the M40 Chiltern Environmental Group (M40 CEG), Wycombe District Council and South Oxfordshire District Council.

The noise reduction barriers will be installed at the following locations:

• Stokenchurch
• Wheeler End/Lane End
• Booker Cressex
• Daws Lea
• Flackwell Heath
• Loudwater
• Wooburn Moor (north)
• Wooburn Moor (south)

Information about the project including the proposed nature and exact location of the barriers is available online now, and a public information event where people will be able to talk to the project team, will take place on 30 June between 1pm and 8pm at Wycombe Leisure Centre, Handy Cross, High Wycombe, HP11 1UP.

For further details and to keep up to date about the project, visit the scheme website. If you have any further queries about the project, please email us at M40noise@highwaysengland.co.uk

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

On Friday 16 June 2017 around 750 people gathered at Manchester’s One Central Convention Complex for a Project Griffin briefing. Attendees came from a range of industry sectors, including retail, hospitality, entertainment, and travel, to learn how they can protect against terrorist attacks, and what to do in the event of a major incident unfolding.

These briefings are typically given to groups of between 30 and 50 people, with the previous largest in Manchester consisting of around 140 attendees. With this event being delivered to more than five times that number, it demonstrates the desire of local businesses to keep their employees, and the wider public, safe from harm.

The briefing consisted of a package devised by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) and delivered by Counter Terrorism Security Advisors (CTSA) from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit (NWCTU).

Project Griffin is a NaCTSO initiative to help protect our workers, businesses and communities from the threat of terrorism. Launched in 2004, Project Griffin builds on existing partnerships between counter terrorism police, emergency services and local companies, helping businesses improve their security and preparedness plans in order to better protect their staff and customers.

Companies have to guard against a variety of potential threats, ranging from crude attacks by lone attackers inspired by terrorist or extremist political ideologies, to sophisticated directed plots requiring significant planning and resources.

Detective Chief Superintendent Scott Wilson, the national police coordinator for Protect and Prepare, said:

Project Griffin has been a vitally important strand of our policing strategy for more than a decade, but recent atrocities in Manchester and London have brought into sharper focus the necessity for police and our partners in industry to work closely together.

I am delighted to see this partnership is flourishing in the North West, and I am sure this is typical of the close relationship police forces around the country share with their local businesses.

While there is no specific intelligence to say an attack is imminent, the threat from terrorism is Severe and that means an attack is highly likely. But it is important to keep a sense of perspective.

Our aim is to move public thinking from an irrational fear of terrorism to a rational concern, where the nature of the current threat is better understood, and staff members know what to do if they find themselves involved at the scene of a terrorist incident or if they should witness the preparations for a future attack.

This may include recognising and reporting suspicious behaviour, dealing with a suspect package, or how they react to a firearms or weapons attack, even though such events are thankfully rare.

We have recently renewed our crowded places guidance to ensure that both the public and industry have the most up-to-date information on how to mitigate the risk from terrorism, and that guidance can be found on the NaCTSO website.

Vaughan Allen, Chief Exec of CityCo, the city centre management company for Manchester and Salford, said:

Since the tragic night of the bomb, CityCo has been working with businesses to keep the city open and help ensure everyone working, living and visiting here feels safe.

It’s a sign of how seriously businesses take the need for their staff to be as well informed as possible that this Project Griffin event will be one of the largest ever counter terrorism awareness events in the UK.

CityCo will continue to work with our partners at NWCTU and Greater Manchester Police in the months to come, rolling out further training and ensuring businesses have up-to-date and accurate advice.

You can apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012, if you were injured or bereaved as a result of this incident. You can also call the CICA helpline on 0300 003 3601.

You do not need a paid representative, such as a solicitor or claims management company, to apply to CICA for compensation.

Our Guide provides information about free independent advice that may be available from local support services or other charitable organisations.