PM says US president’s speculation that Parsons Green attack perpetrators were known to Metropolitan police is unhelpful 
 
 Theresa May has rebuked Donald Trump for suggesting the people responsible for an explosion on a London tube train were known to the Metropolitan police. 
 
 The prime minister expressed her frustration as she spoke for the first time about the “cowardly attack�? at Parsons Green underground station in west London, which injured 29 people. 
 
 Parsons Green explosion caused by IED that only partly blew up, police suspect – latest Read more 
 
 Trump claimed on Twitter that the terrorist attack involved “sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard�?, despite no such information having been released publicly by police. He also blamed it on “loser terrorists�?, promoted his travel ban and advocated a “proactive and nasty�? policy against Islamic State. 
 
 
 
 Asked about Trump’s potential breach of convention on intelligence sharing, May was unusually critical of the US president, saying: “I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.�? 
 
 When the president tweeted, no suspect had been identified and no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the blast. 
 
 The Met police said the president’s comments regarding Friday morning’s incident were unhelpful and “pure speculation�?. 
 
 There was no immediate response from the White House to questions about the basis of Trump’s assertion. 
 
 Speaking outside the White House on Friday, Trump made no reference to her rebuke. “It’s a terrible thing,�? he said. “It just keeps going and going, and we have to be very smart, we have to be very, very tough. Perhaps we are not nearly tough enough. 
 
 “It’s just an absolutely terrible thing. In fact, I’m going to call the prime minister right now. We have to be tougher and we have to be smarter.�? 
 
 
 
 Downing Street said Trump offered May his condolences over the attack during a telephone call later on Friday. 
 
 In a summary of the call, a White House statement said: “President Trump spoke with Prime Minister Theresa May to convey his sympathies and prayers for those injured in the terrorist attack today in London. The President pledged to continue close collaboration with the United Kingdom to stop attacks worldwide targeting innocent civilians and to combat extremism.�? 
 
 
 
 Play Video 0:27 Trump makes no reference to May's rebuke when asked about London train explosion 
 
 In the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing in May, British police temporarily suspended intelligence sharing with the US, after a series of leaks to US media. 
 
 The broadcaster CBS disclosed the name of the bomber, Salman Abedi, citing US sources, at a time when British authorities were asking the media to withhold the information to protect the investigation. The New York Times then published detailed photographs of the bomb scene that had been taken by British investigators. 
 
 Nick Timothy, a newspaper columnist who was formerly May’s chief of staff, wrote on Twitter of Trump’s remarks: “True or not – and I’m sure he doesn’t know – this is so unhelpful from the leader of our ally and intelligence partner.�? 
 
 Eighteen people were taken to hospital after the explosion, which was being treated as an isolated incident, and four people made their own way to hospital. London ambulance service said: “None are thought to be in a serious or life-threatening condition.�? 
 
 
 
 Trump’s intervention had echoes of his tweets after the London Bridge attack in June, when he criticised Sadiq Khan’s call for calm. 
 
 In a statement, the London mayor confirmed that the Parsons Green explosion was being treated as terrorism and said: “I urge all Londoners to be calm and vigilant.�? 
 
 At a morning press briefing, the Met assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said: “We now assess that this was a detonation of an improvised explosive device. As you will have seen, there are reports of 18 injuries. I understand most of those to be flash burns.�? 
 
 Rowley said the investigation was being led by the Met counter-terrorism command, supported by MI5. Police officers would be deployed across the capital’s transport network, he added. 
 
 At around the time Rowley spoke, Trump sent consecutive tweets: 
 
 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Another attack in London by a loser terrorist.These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive! 
 
 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner.The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better! 
 
 Trump revives criticism of 'both sides' in Charlottesville Read more 
 
 He then sent a third: 
 
 “The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific – but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!�? 
 
 
 
 Trump’s travel ban against refugees and others from six majority-Muslim countries is in force but not in full effect, as court challenges on constitutional grounds continue. A first version, against seven countries, was withdrawn after similar challenges. 
 
 “We have made more progress in the last nine months against Isis than the Obama Administration has made in 8 years,�? he said. “Must be proactive & nasty!�? 
 
 The UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, will be able to ask Trump to be more cautious with his comments in future when he sees him on Monday at a special UN general assembly session on reforming the organisation. 
 
 
 
 May and Johnson have repeatedly urged politicians and the media not to speculate about the identity of a terrorist, or whether any suspects were under surveillance by UK security services. 
 
 
 
 Overall, the Foreign Office has become more relaxed about Trump’s plain speaking, but the security services that work under its political direction will be infuriated by any sign that the US president has leaked intelligence information. 
 
 
 
 Trust and confidentiality between UK and US intelligence is the bedrock of the relationship between the two services. May is is due to make prevention of extremism on the internet one of her three key themes at the UN next week. Although May does not support Trump’s talk of cutting off the internet, she agrees with him that technology giants have not done enough to tackle online extremism. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption PM: Trump speculation 'not helpful' 
 
 Prime Minister Theresa May has rebuked US President Donald Trump for suggesting suspects in Friday's London train blast were known to police. 
 
 "I never think it's helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation," she said. 
 
 In a tweet, Mr Trump described the attackers as "loser terrorists" and "sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard". 
 
 The bomb rocked a London Underground train, injuring 29 people. 
 
 In a phone call with Mrs May on Friday, Mr Trump "pledged to continue close collaboration with the United Kingdom to stop attacks worldwide targeting innocent civilians and to combat extremism", the White House said. 
 
 A Downing Street spokesman said he also offered "his condolences over this morning's cowardly attack in London", which he described to reporters earlier as "a terrible thing". 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Trump says 'we've got to be much tougher' 
 
 The call followed Mrs May's critical remarks about the US president. 
 
 In one of his tweets, Mr Trump appeared to chide UK authorities: "Must be proactive!" 
 
 London police said of his comments, "any speculation is unhelpful". 
 
 Nick Timothy, a former senior aide to British Prime Minister Theresa May, echoed London police's comments. 
 
 "True or not - and I'm sure he doesn't know - this is so unhelpful from leader of our ally and intelligence partner," he tweeted. 
 
 Former Conservative MP Ben Howlett also weighed in, calling Mr Trump's tweets "dangerous and inappropriate". 
 
 In other tweets on Friday, the Republican president claimed his administration had "made more progress in the last nine months" against the Islamic State group than his predecessor, Barack Obama. 
 
 "Must be proactive & nasty!" he tweeted. 
 
 Analysis: Changing the subject? 
 
 Anthony Zurcher, BBC News Washington 
 
 Last month Donald Trump defended his delay in ascribing blame for the violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville by saying: "I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct, not make a quick statement." 
 
 That is advice the president seemed uninterested in heeding on Friday morning, as he fired off a series of tweets reacting to the London train incident. 
 
 In fact, with few exceptions, Mr Trump is happy to quickly react to international incidents he suspects are perpetrated by Islamic militants, even when - in the case of the Philippines casino robbery - that's not the case. 
 
 Besides his London remarks on Friday morning, the president again blasted Senate procedural rules, called for his Muslim travel ban to be "tougher", said the fight against the so-called Islamic State should be "nasty", and slammed ESPN, a US sports cable network, for being too political. 
 
 Given that Mr Trump was under fire from his base on Thursday for reaching out to Democrats and being too conciliatory on immigration, it is hard not to think that his actions on Friday may be an effort to change the subject. 
 
 Mr Trump also renewed a call to shut down internet capabilities, which he said were a main recruitment tool for terrorists. 
 
 During the Republican presidential campaign in 2015, Mr Trump suggested he would ask Microsoft founder Bill Gates to cut off the internet because of terror recruitment. 
 
 "We're losing a lot of people because of the internet," Mr Trump said at the time, without elaborating. 
 
 "We have to see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what's happening." 
 
 "We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that internet up in some ways," he added. 
 
 Friday was not the first time Mr Trump has been accused of reacting to suspected terrorist incidents before the facts are fully known. 
 
 If he did leak sensitive information in his tweet about Scotland Yard, rather than indulging in pure speculation as London police say, it could amount to a security breach. 
 
 In May, US officials angered British authorities when details about a deadly bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester were divulged to US media. 
 
 The New York Times was criticised for publishing photographs from the scene, as well as images of the bomb. 
 
 The president also used Friday's tweets to promote his travel ban temporarily barring people from six Muslim-majority countries as well Syrian refugees from entering the US. ||||| "These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!” President Donald Trump tweeted. | Win McNamee/Getty Images Trump's tweet on London attack draws ire from U.K. officials 'These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!' Trump tweets. 
 
 British officials rebuked President Donald Trump on Friday for claiming that the individuals responsible for setting off explosives in the London subway had been “in the sights of” law enforcement who failed to be “proactive.” 
 
 Prime Minister Theresa May reproached Trump for his rhetoric in the wake of what police are investigating as a terrorist attack that injured at least 29 people. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 “I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation,” she said. “As I’ve just said, the police and security services are working to discover the full circumstances of this cowardly attack and to identify all those responsible.” 
 
 Trump earlier on Friday had used the latest attack to offer tough talk on terrorism, and implied that Scotland Yard officials had fallen down on the job — although it’s unclear what non-public information, if any, the president based the comment on. 
 
 “Another attack in London by a loser terrorist,” Trump tweeted early Friday morning. “These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!” 
 
 He wrote in a follow-up post that “loser terrorists” should “be dealt with in a much tougher manner” and urged the U.S. to curb their internet access, which serves as a recruiting tool for terrorists. 
 
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 “We must cut off & use better!” Trump said. 
 
 National security adviser H.R. McMaster appeared to try to clean up Trump's comment, telling reporters later on Friday afternoon that Trump was speaking generally about Scotland Yard, and that he was trying to broadly convey that law enforcement is focused on the threat of terrorism. 
 
 “For years, Scotland Yard has been a leader, as our FBI has been a leader. So I think if there was a terrorist attack here, God forbid, that we would say that they were in the sights of the FBI,” McMaster said. “So I think he didn’t mean anything beyond that.” 
 
 Trump and his administration have stoked the ire of British officials before. The U.K. earlier this year temporarily ceased intelligence sharing with the U.S. after images from an attack in Manchester were leaked to and published in U.S. media, infuriating British officials. May had said she would "make clear to President Trump that intelligence that is shared between our law enforcement agencies must remain secure" when the two met at a NATO summit in May. 
 
 Speaking in Brussels that month, Trump condemned the "deeply troubling" leaks and said he would ask the Justice Department to review the matter and prosecute the culprit, if appropriate. 
 
 A White House official said on Friday that chief of staff John Kelly wasn’t with the president when he fired off his tweets about “loser terrorists” before 7 a.m. Kelly has tried to bring structure to the West Wing and contain some of the president’s impulses by serving as a gatekeeper to what people and what information make it into the Oval Office. 
 
 The official said it’s unclear whether Kelly has spoken with the president about his tweets, but Trump was scheduled to receive an intelligence briefing later Friday morning. 
 
 London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who clashed with Trump after an attack on the London Bridge area in June, said on Friday he been too busy working with police, security services and first responders to pay attention to Trump’s tweets. 
 
 “I haven’t had a chance to look at Twitter, let alone tweet,” he said. 
 
 A Metropolitan Police spokesperson dismissed Trump’s tweet in an interview with the Independent as “speculation.” 
 
 “We don’t even know who the suspects are so it’s a bit difficult to say,” the spokesperson said. 
 
 Nick Timothy, a former aide to May, echoed the prime minister’s sentiment. He said the tweet is “so unhelpful from leader of our ally and intelligence partner.” 
 
 Trump told reporters in the Rose Garden later Friday morning that the attack is “a terrible thing” and reiterated his calls for America to “be very smart” and get “very, very tough.” 
 
 “We’re not nearly tough enough,” said Trump, who added that he would call May on Friday. “That is just an absolutely terrible thing.” 
 
 May offered her thoughts to “those injured at Parsons Green and emergency services who are responding bravely to this terrorist incident” in her initial statement. 
 
 As of late Friday morning, Trump hadn’t publicly offered his thoughts and prayers or pledged America’s support to London, but the White House said he did so privately in a call with May. 
 
 Trump conveyed “his sympathies and prayers for those injured in the terrorist attack today in London,” the administration said in a statement. “The president pledged to continue close collaboration with the United Kingdom to stop attacks worldwide targeting innocent civilians and to combat extremism.” 
 
 Trump later said during a speech at Joint Base Andrews that he expressed "America’s deepest sympathy as well as our absolute commitment to eradicating the terrorists from our planet" to the British prime minister during the call. The president then vowed to eradicate "radical Islamic terrorism." The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks just prior to Trump's appearance. 
 
 Trump also touted that the U.S. military's capability could be "both effective and overwhelming" in responding to the threat of terrorism and that of North Korea, which Thursday launched yet another ballistic missile over Japan, inflaming tensions in the region. 
 
 Trump and May also spoke of the recent North Korean nuclear test, according to a U.K. readout of the conversation, "agreeing it was a reckless provocation and that China must now use all its leverage to bring pressure to bear on the North Korean regime to ensure they change course and end these illegal tests.” 
 
 Earlier on Friday Trump had followed up his tweets on the London incident with one criticizing the administration of former President Barack Obama while claiming success against fighting terrorists. 
 
 “We have made more progress in the last nine months against ISIS than the Obama Administration has made in 8 years,” he said in the tweet. “Must be proactive & nasty!” 
 
 Tara Palmeri and Cristiano Lima contributed to this report. ||||| Theresa May makes TV statement as police search for bomber who left dozens injured by blast at Parsons Green station 
 
 Britain’s terror threat level has been raised from severe to critical, indicating a further attack may be imminent following the Parsons Green tube bombing, Theresa May has said. 
 
 The hunt is under way for the bomber who attempted to bring carnage to a London rush-hour tube train packed with schoolchildren and commuters. 
 
 
 
 London tube bombing: 18-year-old man arrested in Dover - live updates Read more 
 
 Twenty-nine people including a young boy were injured when the bomb partially detonated and sent a ball of fire along a carriage of a District line train at Parsons Green, west London. 
 
 Police are understood to have found CCTV images that captured the bomber as he boarded the train with the bomb packed in a white plastic bucket inside a Lidl supermarket bag. The train is believed to have had onboard CCTV, and there are a large number of cameras covering the network. 
 
 Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast, the militant group’s Amaq news agency said on Friday evening. 
 
 Nobody suffered life-threatening injuries in the incident, the fifth terrorist attack Britain has suffered in less than six months. Parsons Green station has since reopened. 
 
 In a televised statement on Friday night, the prime minister said the UK terror threat level was being raised to its highest rating and that armed police and members of the military would be seen on the streets in the coming days. 
 
 
 
 Play Video 0:55 Theresa May: terror threat level raised to critical after London tube blast – video 
 
 “For this period, military personnel will replace police officers on guard duties at certain protected sites that are not accessible to the public,” she said. 
 
 
 
 “The public will see more armed police on the transport network and on our streets, providing extra protection. This is a proportionate and sensible step which will provide extra reassurance and protection while the investigation progresses.” 
 
 The prime minister condemned Friday’s bombing as cowardly and the home secretary, Amber Rudd, denounced it as “callous and indiscriminate”. The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, described the attack as hideous and added: “We will never be defeated.” 
 
 The security minister Ben Wallace told the BBC on Saturday: “We haven’t been able at the moment to catch the bomber. The bomber is still out there – or bombers – and we have to get to the bottom of that and follow up the leads.” 
 
 The Met assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, the UK’s most senior anti-terror police officer, said police were “chasing down suspects”. He said support from the military would free up about 1,000 extra armed police officers, largely from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and Ministry of Defence police. 
 
 
 
 A former army bomb disposal officer said it appeared the initiating charge of the device had exploded but had failed to detonate the main charge. 
 
 
 
 Initially, police considered the possibility that the bomber had been among those taken to hospital, where many were treated for flash burns. 
 
 Investigators. however, believe the device was remotely detonated, which suggested it may not have been intended as a suicide attack, and that the bomber may have left the train before the explosion. 
 
 Donald Trump’s first response to the attack – a tweet in which he claimed the “loser terrorist” had been on Scotland Yard’s radar, and that more proactive policing was required – was dismissed by a police spokesman as “unhelpful”. May also criticised the US president, saying: “I never think it is helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.” 
 
 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Another attack in London by a loser terrorist.These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive! 
 
 The explosion happened at about 8.20am on Friday while the train was stationary and the doors open. 
 
 Rory Rigney had just boarded the rear carriage of the train and was standing just feet away when the blast went off. “I thought: ‘Did someone smash something?’ It sounded like a smash, then I heard a scream and thought: ‘It’s someone having a fight.’ Then I saw the fireball coming towards me – yellow or orange. My face still feels warm. 
 
 “The doors were still open, so I jumped out and tried to get as far away as possible, got on the ground and covered myself. I wasn’t hanging around to get a better look at it.” 
 
 Chris Wildish, who was also on the train, said “a massive flash of flames” reached up to the ceiling of the train, and then the air was filled with the smell of chemicals. Many of the passengers were schoolchildren, who were knocked around by people trying to get away from the fire, he said. 
 
 
 
 Emma Stevie said people tumbled over each other as they tried to escape. “There were people on top of people. There was a pregnant lady under me shouting: ‘I’m pregnant’. There was a little boy in his red and black uniform, he must have been about eight years old, a tiny thing, with his face smashed into the steps.” 
 
 Before long, a number of people returned to the train to retrieve bags and telephones. A few took photographs of the smouldering remains of the device, which had been packed into a bucket that eyewitnesses said appeared to have held mayonnaise. A number of wires, which appeared to be attached to small lights, were also visible. 
 
 Tube staff then ordered people to leave the station. Armed police were on the scene within minutes, as were firefighters and paramedics, who began treating people with burns. 
 
 Police threw a cordon around the area and asked some residents to leave their homes. Armed police evacuated a nursery and a junior school, and a girls’ secondary school was placed in lockdown. 
 
 NHS England said 29 patients had been treated, with 21 still in hospital on Friday evening. 
 
 Responsibility for the investigation was quickly handed to Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command. 
 
 Emma (@EmmaStevie1) I'm safe - just had to run for my life at #ParsonsGreen station - huge stamped, lots injured. Not sure why - fire/explosion mentioned. pic.twitter.com/zRvRPWOuzA 
 
 Rowley said hundreds of detectives had been drafted in to the investigation, and he appealed to the public for information. 
 
 So far, 77 images and videos have been sent to investigators via the UK Police Image Appeal website. 
 
 Alex Littlefield (@A_Littlefield) Still unclear but very scary - extremely heavy armed police presence now #ParsonsGreen pic.twitter.com/WkodyNsfk0 
 
 On Friday night detectives were examining a mass of CCTV footage from the underground rail network, and from businesses around some District line stations. 
 
 The device was being examined by forensics experts, and may offer clues from its construction and from the chemicals used to make the explosive charge. 
 
 Counter-terrorism investigators will want to establish where the device was put together, and where the materials to make it were acquired. They will also be attempting to establish whether the bomb-making knowledge was acquired from the plethora of DIY guides on the internet, or from another person. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest A picture posted on Twitter of a burning plastic bag holding what is believed to be an improvised explosive device on a District line train. Photograph: @RRigs 
 
 Rita Katz, the director of the private intelligence company Site, said Isis claimed the bombing was the work of a “detachment” rather than simply a “soldier”, which she said implied it was a co-ordinated attack. 
 
 
 
 The terror group has frequently declared that it was behind terrorist incidents in recent years but experts have warned that its claims should be treated with caution. 
 
 The explosion at Parsons Green is the first terrorist attack in the UK this year to not result in loss of life. Two vehicle and knife attacks in London and a bombing in Manchester were blamed on Islamist-motivated terrorism. A van attack in June was blamed on an extreme rightwing motivation. 
 
 Hans Michels, a professor of safety engineering at the chemical engineering department at Imperial College London, said there appeared to be similarities with the failed attempts on 21 July 2005 to bomb the tube network. 
 
 Play Video 0:47 'People were falling on top of each other': Parsons Green witness explains the panic 
 
 “In appearance and arrangement the remnants of the device seem highly similar to those of the hydrogen peroxide-based devices of 2005. The size of the device and its containment in a plastic bucket is also the same.” 
 
 The trial of the 21 July bombers heard that their devices had failed because they had made mistakes when mixing the chemicals. 
 
 Additional reporting: Sarah Marsh, Kevin Rawlinson and Patrick Greenfield
– Rarely reticent after overseas incidents, President Trump spoke up early Friday after news streamed across the pond of a rush-hour explosion in the London Underground that injured at least 18 people. He railed on Twitter against the "loser terrorists," calling those responsible "sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard." (The Telegraph notes Scotland Yard hasn't yet indicated that's actually the case; Politico says it's "unclear" what info Trump used to make that assessment.) Trump also suggested we must deal with any such terrorists "in a much tougher manner," including cutting off "their main recruitment tool": the internet. The Independent reports it's not the first time Trump has mentioned internet restrictions, noting he said in late 2015 he wanted to "see Bill Gates" about "closing it up." Trump's tweets next segued into a call to make the US travel ban "far larger, tougher and more specific," though he lamented that "stupidly, that would not be politically correct!" And finally, a dig against his predecessor: "We have made more progress in the last nine months against ISIS than the Obama Administration has made in 8 years. Must be proactive & nasty!" Shortly after his terrorist-themed tweets, Trump moved on to a new topic: the controversy over ESPN host Jemele Hill (though he didn't mention her by name), who earlier this week called him a "white supremacist." "ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!" he tweeted.