Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives near London Bridge in the City of London

Labour and the Conservatives sought to blame each other for the release of the convicted terrorist who killed two people in London Bridge on Friday.

Prime minister Boris Johnson and home secretary Priti Patel both claimed that Jeremy Corbyn’s party was responsible for the law that meant 28-year-old Usman Khan was freed on licence half way through his 16-year sentence.

Meanwhile former shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper questioned what action the government took to assess the risks posed by the attacker, and both Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, pointed to cuts made to public services over the last decade.

The attacker, who was convicted of terrorism offences in 2012 and released last December, was fatally shot by police at about 2pm on Friday.

One of the victims has been named as 25-year-old Jack Merritt, who worked as a course coordinator for the prisoners’ rehabilitation programme holding the event at Fishmongers’ Hall.

His father David described him as “an exceptional young man” and called for greater funding of probation services monitoring released prisoners.