Met facing questions over attacker | Gunman killed in Melbourne siege | Parties row over policing

Having trouble reading this email? View it in your browser. You can unsubscribe here.

By Justin Parkinson

Met under scrutiny over London attacker

The Metropolitan Police are facing questions over why an inquiry into one of the London attackers was downgraded.  Khuram Butt, 27, from Barking, east London, was known to police and MI5 in 2015. But assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said there had been no evidence of a plot before Saturday's killings.   The second of the three attackers - all shot dead within eight minutes of police getting a call - has been named as Rachid Redouane, 30, also from Barking. He worked as a chef and was not known to the Met.   Meanwhile, the family of 32-year-old James McMullan, from Hackney, east London - who has been missing since Saturday night - say they believe he was among those killed. The first victim named was Canadian Chrissy Archibald.   A vigil was held overnight for the seven people killed in the attack at London Bridge and Borough Market, and a minute's silence will take place at 11:00 BST. Thirty-six people remain in hospital, 18 in a critical condition.

Khuram Butt showed his extremist colours   It's still not clear when he got involved in radical Islamist politics, but there is ample evidence that he was involved in the al-Muhajiroun network - certainly in 2015 and potentially at least two years earlier.           Read full analysis >          Dominic Casciani Home affairs correspondent

Other top stories

Police in Melbourne, Australia, say they're treating a siege in which three officers were injured and a gunman was shot dead as a "terrorist incident". Armed officers arrived at an apartment building in the city after reports of an explosion and found one man already dead in the foyer.  Yacqub Khayre, 29, was holding a woman inside the building against her will before a firefight took place between him and police.       There are only two days to go until the general election, and Labour has criticised Theresa May for allowing police officer numbers to fall while she was home secretary. Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said the prime minister must "take responsibility for letting austerity damage her ability to keep us safe". But the Conservatives called this "desperate stuff", saying Ms Abbott's "views on keeping us safe are as dangerous as she is hopeless under pressure".       Theresa May is promising to revive the Board of Trade, a body with roots going back to the 17th Century, if the Conservatives win the election. The body, made up of nine commissioners in different parts of the world, would boost exports and encourage investment, the Conservatives say. But the Liberal Democrats called the plan "outdated" and Labour has said it will seek tariff-free access to the EU single market after Brexit.

What the papers say

"So how the hell did he slip through?" asks the Mirror, one of several papers to question how Khuram Butt was able to carry out the London attack, given that he was known to authorities and had been featured in a television documentary about extremism. "Why didn't they stop TV jihadi?" is the Sun's headline, while the Daily Telegraph describes Butt as "brazen".

Daily digest

Police and race Officers more respectful to white people than black, suggests US research       Bill Cosby trial Actor "used power and fame to prey on women"       Zookeeper death Tiger will not be put down       Teenage frustration The would-be voters born a day too late

If you watch one thing today   The election blind date you won't want to miss

If you listen to one thing today   The religious world of Jane Austen

If you read one thing today   'My father was kidnapped yesterday'

Today's lookahead

09:00 Actors, writers, journalists and members of the public will complete a start-to-finish, live reading of George Orwell's 1984 at University College London's Senate House, as part of the institution's festival of culture.       11:45 The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction publishes its annual report on drug trends and development.

On this day     1975 It's announced that voters have backed the UK's continued membership of the European Economic Community by two-to-one, in the country's first nationwide referendum.

From elsewhere       Things in Yemen are only getting worse (Independent)         The Argentine-American lemon war (Economist)             A camera unlocks Johannesburg (New Yorker)       Is your brain a time machine? (New Scientist)

Let us know what you think of this newsletter by emailing bbcnewsdaily@bbc.co.uk. If you’d like to recommend it to a friend, forward this email. New subscribers can sign up here.

UK News World News Politics Magazine Reporters Video & Audio         News Sport Weather iPlayer TV Radio         Terms of use    |    Privacy and Cookies    |    Unsubscribe       .   Find out everything you need to know about using your BBC account, all in one place. BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA Copyright © 2017 BBC   .