Theresa May heckled during visit to site of London mosque attack

Theresa May has faced heckles from the public after visiting the London mosque targeted in a terror attack.

Theresa May heckled during visit to site of London mosque attack

Theresa May has faced heckles from the public after visiting the London mosque targeted in a terror attack.

The British Prime Minister was greeted with cries such as "have you got a faster taxi today?" and "how can you be so quick today?" from crowds outside Finsbury Park Mosque as she left to get into a car back to Downing Street.

She had met faith leaders to discuss Monday's atrocity, where a man allegedly drove a van into a group of worshippers near the mosque.

It marks the latest difficult encounter for Mrs May in the wake of major disasters, with her response to last week's Grenfell Tower fire having been heavily criticised.

The Prime Minister did not initially meet the families of those affected by last week's blaze in Kensington, instead holding a private meeting with the emergency services.

This move prompted a backlash, especially when the British Queen and British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn later visited the victims.

Mrs May did later go and visit those affected, and invited a group to Downing Street for a meeting.

But the Prime Minister faced cries of "coward" and "shame on you" from crowds as she left a meeting with victims in Kensington on Friday.

Critics argued that the response was badly misjudged by the Prime Minister, whose reputation had already been damaged by her disappointing General Election result.

Visiting Finsbury Park Mosque on Monday afternoon, Mrs May met with a selection of faith leaders who sat in a circle with her to discuss their concerns.

She was hurried into the building, with aides saying she was keeping to a tight schedule.

The media were allowed to watch the meeting for around one minute before being taken to a different floor, where they were told to wait for the Prime Minister.

After taking one question from the press she left the building, with her exit signalled to those inside by yells coming from the waiting crowd.

Mrs May told reporters after the meeting: "The terrible terrorist attack which took place last night was an evil born out of hatred and it has devastated a community.

"I am pleased to have been here today to see the strength of that community coming together, all faiths united in one desire to see extremism and hatred of all sorts driven out of our society.

"There is no place for this hatred in our country today and we need to work together as one society, one community, to drive it out, this evil which is affecting so many families."

Earlier, Jeremy Corbyn had described the attack on a group of worshippers near a mosque in his own constituency as "terror on the streets".

Mr Corbyn, who lives close to the scene, said he became aware of the incident very quickly as police responded early on Monday.

The Leader of the Opposition praised the emergency services for their "very quick and very timely" response after the driver was arrested at the scene.

Asked if the suspected terrorist attack was being treated as seriously as others, he told BBC News on Monday: "I'm treating it absolutely as seriously as any other attack.

"This was a van driven into a crowd of people who were tending a man who was already injured and they were coming home from night-time prayers in the mosque.

"It's Ramadan and it's perfectly normal, and eight people have been injured, some of them I understand extremely seriously, and, as I see it, this is a terror on the streets and it's a terror of the people on the streets, in the communities I'm very proud to represent in Parliament, and that's why I'm here today."

Mr Corbyn said that, while he had not spoken to the Prime Minister directly, their offices had been in touch, and Theresa May "expressed her condolences for the death and also concerns about what happened last night".

He has also spoken to London Mayor Sadiq Khan and said it was important to make sure the response was "sufficient and co-ordinated" and to provide "reassurance" to the community.

"Reassurance they are free to practise their faith, they are free to walk about the streets, and people must be able to do that," he said.

"But I have to say the stress levels I have met already, from both people last night and this morning were just frightened, just frightened that something like this could happen again, and so we obviously need efficient and effective policing, we obviously need, also, an attitude in our society of support for each other.

"The only way to deal with this kind of issue is communities coming together and this is a very multi-faith community - Christians, Jewish, Muslims, Hindu, Buddhist, all live around here.

"This is a microcosm of a community working together."

Mr Corbyn, who has represented the constituency of Islington North since 1983, said he felt the community's "pain" and "stress".

"An attack on a mosque, an attack on a synagogue, an attack on a church is actually an attack on all of us. We have to protect each others' faith, each others' way of life, and that's what makes us a strong society and community," he added.

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