Service and two minutes’ silence held for the five people killed in terrorist incident

The five casualties of the Westminster terror attack have been remembered at a service to mark the first anniversary.

The ceremony in Westminster Hall on Thursday was attended by politicians, senior police officers and people caught up in the attack on 22 March last year.

Those who died included a police officer, PC Keith Palmer. Dozens of other people were injured as Khalid Masood, 52, carried out the car and knife attack on Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster. Masood was later shot dead.



The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, told the gathering that a year ago “darkness struck across Westminster Bridge and in this palace. It spread across the bridge like a snake, driving to left and right, killing and harming.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Floral tributes to PC Keith Palmer have been left outside the Palace of Westminster. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Getty

The service included a two-minute silence for the victims. Palmer, 48, had been on duty at the Palace of Westminster. Kurt Cochran, 54, a US tourist, Andreea Cristea, 31, a Romanian tourist, and two Britons, Aysha Frade, 44, and Leslie Rhodes, 75, were run down on the bridge.

Theresa May was not at the service because she was attending an EU summit in Brussels, but Downing Street said she had attended an earlier private service in the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster.



Earlier in the day, the Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood fought back tears as he talked about comforting his young son after Ellwood had tried in vain to save Palmer in the Palace of Westminster’s courtyard. Ellwood had been in parliament when the attack began.

“A vivid image I have is returning home and finding my son at the top of the stairs and he was in tears … he could not understand why someone was wielding a knife in a place he’d visited many times,” he told BBC Breakfast. “All I could offer was that there are some bad people in the world, but there are a lot more good people and it’s the good people who win.”

The defence minister said the UK was going through a “dark chapter”. The threats faced by the UK were not going away and involved not just terrorism but “resurgent nations challenging the world order”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tobias Ellwood fights back tears on BBC Breakfast as he reflects on the Westminster attack. Photograph: BBC

Ellwood, who has lobbied within government for extra funding for the armed forces, said: “These attacks will continue unless we step forward and actually participate, become more proactive in dealing with what is a very changing and dark chapter that we are enduring.”

Palmer was praised by a friend and colleague, PC Shaun Cartwright. In a statement released through Scotland Yard on Thursday, he said: “Keith loved being a police officer. He just wanted to help people and do his best … He was a proud and courageous police officer who did his job and never wanted any fuss or to be the centre of attention.”

Senior officers will attend private memorial services to mark the first anniversary of the atrocity. Palmer’s name will be one of 1,400 inscribed on a UK police memorial being built in Staffordshire, commemorating officers killed on duty.

MPs observed a minute’s silence to mark the anniversary of the attack. The Commons Speaker, John Bercow, asked members in the chamber to pause “in respectful memory” of those who died.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Theresa May lays a floral tribute outside parliament in London. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

MPs from different parties stood together to pay their respects before a scheduled session of digital, culture, media and sport questions.



The culture secretary, Matt Hancock, said: “I’m sure the whole house will want to associate ourselves to mark the memory of those who passed away a year ago, as we have just noted in the one minute’s silence, and to thank once more the emergency services who keep us safe and, especially on this day, those who put others’ safety ahead of their own. We remember those who have lost their lives defending democracy. They will not be forgotten.”

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, and the leader of the Commons, Andrea Leadsom, will attend a commemorative event in Westminster Hall later on Thursday.

The hashtag #LondonUnited will be projected on to the Houses of Parliament on Thursday evening. A 3D installation of #LondonUnited will be located at City Hall, where the public will be able to pay their respects and sign a “digital book of hope”.