UK police raid more homes after London attack

British police raided two more homes in east London on Monday as they stepped up their investigation into Saturday's terror attack in the capital that claimed seven lives.

Four other addresses were raided in the same area on Sunday, including the home of one of the suspected killers. Police said they would name the attackers as soon as it was operationally possible to do so.

Seven women and five men aged between 19 and 60 were arrested under the Terrorism Act, the Metropolitan Police said. A 55-year-old man was released later without charge.

The raids came as campaigning resumed for Thursday's General Elelction with Prime Minister Theresa May under more fire over cuts to police numbers by 20,000 during her tenure as Home Secretary.

May has been faltering in recent weeks as support for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn grows. Talk of a landslide win has virtually disappeared as the Conservative leader struggles to bounce back from a series of policy reverses and her personal approval rating crumbling amid accusations that she has been avoiding meeting voters and dodging head-to-head debates with her opponents.

Corbyn went on the front foot when campaigning resumed, accusing May of underfunding the police and security services.

"You cannot protect the public on the cheap. The police and security services must get the resources they need," he said in a speech on Sunday night.

Corbyn promised to take "whatever action is necessary and effective" to protect people.

"That includes full authority for the police to use whatever force is necessary to protect and save life as they did last night, as they did in Westminster in March," he said.

"Theresa May was warned by the Police Federation but she accused them of 'crying wolf"."

The latest attack occurred on London Bridge as three men in a van ran down pedestrians before leaving the vehicle at stabbing people in bars in the area. They were shot dead by armed police eight minutes after the first alert was sent out.

May's discomfort increased when one of her senior Cabinet members agreed that police numbers had been reduced since 2010.

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley told the BBC policing cuts had been needed at the time when departmental budgets were being squeezed in the wake of the bank-induced financial crisis.

“We’ve seen reductions in police officers across the board, we had to take difficult decisions in 2010 when we came into office when, as you remember, there was no money. All parties at that time agreed there needed to be cuts,” she said.