A 21-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday in connection with three fires, including two at properties linked to Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer.
London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that a 21-year-old man had been arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life. The man remains in custody.
A fire broke out on Monday outside a four-bedroom home in Kentish Town, north London, where Mr. Starmer lived until he won last year’s general election. It is currently rented out to tenants, as he and his family live in the prime minister’s official residence, 10 Downing Street.
The police are also looking into a car fire on May 8 in the same street and a small fire on Sunday at the front door of a house converted into apartments in Islington, north London, at a property that is also linked to Mr. Starmer.
All three fires are being treated as suspicious and the police are investigating whether they are linked, the statement said.
Nobody was hurt in any of the fires but there was damage to the entrance of Mr. Starmer’s family home. British news outlets published photos of a blackened and charred doorway.
In the statement on Monday, the Metropolitan Police said: “As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire. Enquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it.”
The prime minister’s connections to the two properties have intensified concerns that he may have been targeted.
In a statement on social media on Tuesday, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said: “This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with the Prime Minister and his family. No one should face these sorts of threats, let alone people in public service.” She added: “It’s an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”
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