London, May 13 (PTI) Britain’s counter-terrorism police are on Tuesday leading an investigation after a 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson following fires at London homes linked with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The Metropolitan Police said the man was arrested late on Monday night and remains in custody on suspicion of “arson with intent to endanger life”.
While the police has only referred to the London properties targeted over the course of the past five days as having connections with a “high-profile public figure”, UK media reports have established that they are all associated with Starmer – who is currently resident at the official prime ministerial residence at 10 Downing Street in London.
“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,” the Met Police statement said.
“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 statement said.
The police investigation team are also considering two other incidents – a vehicle fire on Thursday and a fire at the entrance of a property in north London to establish if they are linked to the suspected arson overnight.
“All three fires are being treated as suspicious at this time, and enquiries remain ongoing,” the police added.
Starmer is understood to still own the home damaged by fire on Monday night, with pictures showing scorching at the entrance to the property. No injuries were reported and it remains unclear if there was anyone within the premises at the time.
The UK PM’s spokesperson said he had expressed his gratitude to the emergency services but declined to comment further on a “live investigation”.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC that she had been briefed on the incidents.
“Police are investigating these incidents and they have my full support in doing so. 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,” she said. PTI AK NSA NSA NSA
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