00:07Good afternoon, Counterterrorism South East are now leading the investigation into the
00:14death of Anne Widdicombe. This is due to new information and evidence coming to light
00:20following the arrest of a 28 year old man on Saturday in South Yorkshire. I know there will
00:28be lots of questions about what that new information is but this is a live investigation so I am
00:35limited on the details that I can give. However it is clear that this was a targeted attack.
00:43We are still working to understand the extent of any planning or preparation and the motivation
00:49that sits behind that attack and I do not want to comment further on this at this stage of our
00:55inquiries. Extensive searches have taken place at an address in Rotherham and scenes remain in place
01:02as that activity continues. We have also been granted a warrant of further detention which means
01:09the suspect can now be held for questioning for up to seven days under the terrorism act. He remains
01:17under arrest on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism as well as on
01:26suspicion of murder. I am very aware of the significant levels of public interest in this case given that
01:35Miss Widdicombe was such a high profile political and public figure and familiar to many. I do not intend to
01:42address every bit of speculation we have seen but I would like to use this opportunity to remind the
01:48public that investigations of this type are complex and new information can emerge as officers progress
01:55their inquiries and we intend to release further information when it is available and when it is
02:02appropriate to do so. So please if you have any information that you think might help us with this
02:09investigation please contact the police. Thank you very much.
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