MPs and ordinary Londoners vow to carry on as normal in the wake of a deadly terror attack on Parliament.

Some roads have now reopened around Westminster including The Mall and Constitution Hill.

However Transport for London have warned buses in the area are still severely disrupted with some routes being diverted or terminating early.

Westminster Tube station remains shut for entry and exit, and Westminster Pier is also closed.

The Daily Politics

BBC News understands that the attacker was shot by a bodyguard of Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, not a routine armed guard.

Political editor Laura Kuenssberg told BBC Two's Daily Politics: "The crucial difference is that those bodyguards are only in the Palace of Westminster when those ministers are actually there."  

The reports have not yet been confirmed by the government or Metropolitan Police.

Image source, PA

Speaking at first minister's questions, Nicola Sturgeon said the Scottish Parliament stood in solidarity with London, which she described as a vibrant, diverse and wonderful city.

Acts of terror were not the responsibility of any one faith, but only of the individuals who carried them out, she said.

She was moved by the poignancy of proceedings at Westminster this morning and reflected on how hard it must have been to return to work after yesterday's attack.

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

It's understood there's been police activity at locations in Forest Gate in east London, Wales, Surrey and Sussex, as well as Birmingham.

This may be related to arrests or just searches or both.

Jo Coburn, co-presenting BBC Two's Daily Politics show, described seeing armed police "running towards the danger" as the events unfolded in Westminster.

"They were telling us to run away from it," she said.

She was among "hundreds" of people who gathered in Central Lobby, the heart of Parliament.

"Old, young, schoolchildren, everybody gathered and yes, the SWAT team, with rifles running through."

The so-called Islamic State terror group has claimed through its news agency that the Westminster attacker was a "soldier of the Islamic State".

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry describes how she and other MPs barricaded themselves in Portcullis House in Westminster after they heard shooting.

"I thought there might be somebody shooting outside and somebody in the building," she told BBC Two's Daily Politics.

Ms Thornberry said she hid with an MP she did not get along with. She said: "I told him I was very pleased to see him, and he said 'I never thought I'd hear you say that!'"

A scarf has been placed on the seat where Charlton Athletic season-ticket holder PC Keith Palmer sat at The Valley.

The club said PC Palmer was a "familiar face at The Valley" called him "a true hero who will be greatly missed by all the Charlton family".

BBC Radio 5 live

MP Lindsay Hoyle has paid tribute to the policeman who “died defending democracy” in an attack on Westminster yesterday. 

The deputy House of Commons speaker told BBC Radio 5 live's Emma Barnett : “We’ve lost one of our village bobbies... he died in the line of duty. This should never have happened."

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

Every day intelligence officials have to prioritise, or triage, who to pursue and who to discount

People who were once a threat change their thinking. They grow up, have kids and settle down.

MI5, meanwhile, is tasked with focusing on those they know of with the most advanced plans.

Some of those they discount, or temporarily turn away from, later turn out to be more dangerous than initially thought.

They include the ringleader of the 7/7 bombings and one of the two men who killed Fusilier Lee Rigby.

Intelligence is never a complete picture - it is not even like a jigsaw with missing pieces. It’s a case of trying to interpret fragments of information that rarely amount to a whole.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

"This attacker is not of my religion, nor of my community," says Labour's Khalid Mahmood

"If they were of a religion, they would not commit acts like this."

The prime minister praises Mr Mahmood's consistent stance on terrorism.

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

The prime minister’s carefully worded statement that the killer was once investigated raises more questions than it currently answers.

Image source, Reuters

It appears that the individual was discounted as a “peripheral figure” on the edge of some other operation.

She didn’t say whether that means he was considered and discounted for good reason by MI5 intelligence officers, investigated for a criminal offence by detectives or even ever arrested.

However, she also stressed he was not part of the “current intelligence picture” - and that means he wasn’t currently on the radar at all.

This points to the very difficult dilemma faced by security services combating these kinds of threats.

Many people have been quick to praise the bravery of the city's "heroes" in the wake of the attack - from the emergency services to passers-by.

Doctors and nurses were seen running from nearby St Thomas's Hospital to help those injured on Westminster Bridge.

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Image source, Getty Images