Sky News Today with Jayne Secker

At the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, the Home Secretary opened by addressing the events outside RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. She thanked police, said the nationalities of those responsible were known and all were British citizens, and that after the Army's explosive ordnance disposal team had made the scene safe, residents of Whelford would shortly return home. She urged that police be allowed to continue their work without speculation prejudicing investigations, and warned those who plot violence on UK soil that they would never defeat the country.

The Home Secretary then delivered a speech centred on fairness. She said knife crime, serious violence, net migration and small boat crossings were down, with over 48,000 attempted crossings stopped and this summer recording the lowest small boat arrivals since 2021. She announced new capped safe and legal routes, with applications opening in October for charities and non-profits to sponsor refugees through community and student sponsorship routes, first arrivals in autumn next year, further work route sponsor applications in spring next year, and the reopening of the UK resettlement route with the United Nations, whose first arrivals this year would include around a quarter Afghan women and girls fleeing the Taliban and Palestinians who had fled Gaza. She also referred to three more deaths in the Channel, discussed earned settled status, and cited murder down 9 per cent, serious violence down 11 per cent and knife robberies down 16 per cent, alongside 3,800 more neighbourhood officers, specialist officers for violence against women and girls, a new National Police Service, and legislation later this year on young minds warped online.

Later, Counter Terrorism Policing said it was leading the investigation near RAF Fairford. Assistant Commissioner Lawrence Taylor said a report of suspicious vehicles in the early hours of Sunday led armed officers to arrest five men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and later preparation of a terrorist act under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act. Three vehicles were examined, a cordon remained but was hoped to be reduced, and the five men were released on police bail with stringent conditions while remaining under investigation. He said officers were keeping an open mind, including whether proxies or individuals knowingly or unknowingly worked for a foreign state, and asked the public to remain vigilant. The Prime Minister said he would chair a Cobra meeting that afternoon to ensure the full picture, thanking police, security services, emergency services and the public who alerted them.