Theresa May: UK parliament to meet as normal on Thursday

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said life will continue "as normal" in London despite Wednesday's deadly terrorist attack in the heart of the nation's capital. At around 14:40 GMT on Wednesday, a car drove into dozens of people on a crowded Westminster Bridge before a police officer was stabbed to death in the grounds of the parliamentary estate. Four people were killed including the attacker, while 29 others needed hospital treatment. "The location of the attack was no accident, where all people from all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate liberation and democracy," May said. "Let me make it clear today... any attempt to defeat those values through violence is doomed to failure. The streets of Westminster are ingrained with the spirit of freedom."

Watch in full: PM @theresa_may pays tribute to the "exceptional men and women" of the emergency services after terror attack at #Westminster pic.twitter.com/d4dIAcf9K6
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 22, 2017

The Premier said parliament would meet as normal on Thursday. "We will come together as normal. And Londoners and others around the world will get up and go about their day as normal. They will board their trains. They will leave their hotels. They will walk these streets. They will live their lives, they will all move forward together, never giving into terror and never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart," she said.

Also Read- UK Parliament terrorist attack kills 5, injures 40

The prime minister also thanked the emergency services personnel who attended to those on the scenes of the attack, which occurred on the first anniversary of the Brussels airport terror attack. "Once again today these exceptional men and women ran towards the danger even as they encouraged others to move the other way. They have lost one of their own in today's attack only makes their calmness and professionalism under pressure all the more remarkable," May said.

May delivered her defiant message after chairing a meeting of the government's crisis response COBRA committee. In a statement given at around 4:45pm on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that a counter-terrorism investigation is ongoing and that additional officers will be patrolling the capital on Thursday.