May, Corbyn Suspend Election Campaign after Manchester Attack

Local Editor

Britain's political parties agreed to suspend election campaigning "until further notice" following an explosion in Manchester that killed 19 people at a concert at Manchester Arena.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, said in a statement that he had spoken to Prime Minister Theresa May and had agreed that all national campaigning for the June 8 election would be suspended.

May said earlier that the incident in the northern English city was being treated as a terrorist attack.

"I am horrified by the horrendous events in Manchester last night," Corbyn said. "My thoughts are with families and friends of those who have died and been injured."

May will chair a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee on Tuesday morning.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron called off an election visit to Gibraltar and the SNP postponed Tuesday's planned manifesto launch.

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who will attend Cobra, has said the Manchester explosion was a ‘barbaric attack, deliberately targeting some of the most vulnerable in our society'.

She said the intention of the attack was to ‘sow fear' but stressed that it would not succeed.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said it was ‘impossible to imagine a worse night in the history of this city'.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: ‘Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims of those people who are in some cases critically injured in what is a truly appalling night.'

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team