Kemi Badenoch has condemned an “attack on our democracy” after a man was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life in connection with a series of alleged attacks at properties linked to Keir Starmer.
A 21-year-old man has been held on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life in relation to three fires, including a Kentish Town property where the prime minister used to live.
He is also reportedly being questioned over a vehicle fire in the same street and a fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, which is also linked to Starmer.
Counter-terrorism police are leading the inquiry and are treating the fires as suspicious.
In a statement on Tuesday morning, the Metropolitan Police said a man had been arrested in relation to three suspected arson attacks.
It said: “On Monday, 12 May at 01:35hrs, police were alerted by the London Fire Brigade to reports of a fire at a residential address in NW5
“Officers attended the scene. Damage was caused to the property’s entrance, nobody was hurt.
“As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire. Enquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it.
“The investigation team are also considering two other incidents – a vehicle fire in NW5 on Thursday, 8 May and a fire at the entrance of a property in N7 on Sunday, 11 May – and are investigating whether they may be linked to the fire in NW5 on 12 May.
“All three fires are being treated as suspicious at this time, and enquiries remain ongoing.”
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Starmer, who now resides at the prime minister’s official residence at 10 Downing Street, thanked emergency services after the fire.
A spokesperson for the PM said Starmer “thanks emergency services for their work” but added that he “cannot comment on an ongoing investigation”.
Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, has now described the incidents as “shocking” and emphasised that such threats against public servants are “an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”
She wrote on X: “This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with the prime minister and his family.
“No one should face these sorts of threats, let alone people in public service.
“It’s an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”
Home secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC she had been briefed on the incidents but could not comment further.
“Police are investigating these incidents and they have my full support in doing so”, she said.
“With any incident, there are always the important concerns that all of us will have, but we also have confidence in our police and the work that they are doing to investigate this incident.”
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News on Tuesday: “It’s important that the prime minister and anyone in public life has their family, their homes, protected.
“We have robust disagreements in politics but I want to ensure anyone who chooses to go in to public life feels that they’ll be properly protected and that we have civility in our debate.
“It is absolutely wrong, disgraceful, for any individual to take the kind of action that we saw against the prime minister’s home.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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