UPDATE: Armed policing across London

Update on availability of armed officers across London - Thursday, 28 September:

We no longer require mutual aid officers to assist in London, and we are grateful to our police colleagues who offered us their support. There remains no current requirement from the Ministry of Defence or armed forces for assistance.

Over the past 24 hours, further armed officers have returned to armed duties ensuring we have a comprehensive and London wide firearms response in our communities, and at key protected locations.

Senior officers continue to meet with and support colleagues through this time.

+ Please find our previous statements below:

Senior officers, including the Commissioner, have been meeting with firearms officers in recent days as they reflect on the CPS decision to charge NX121 with murder.

Many are worried about how the decision impacts on them, on their colleagues and on their families. They are concerned that it signals a shift in the way the decisions they take in the most challenging circumstances will be judged.

A number of officers have taken the decision to step back from armed duties while they consider their position but in the past 24 hours some have returned.

We are in ongoing discussions with those officers to support them and to fully understand the genuinely held concerns that they have.

The Met has a significant firearms capability and we continue to have armed officers deployed in communities across London as well as at other sites including Parliament, diplomatic premises, airports etc.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Defence agreed to provide the Met with counterterrorism support as a contingency option.

As of lunchtime on Monday, the number of officers who had returned to armed duties was sufficient for us to no longer require external assistance to meet our counterterrorism responsibilities.

We are grateful to the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces personnel involved for their support.

A limited number of armed officers from other UK police forces continue to support non-counterterrorism armed policing.

We will keep the need for this support under review. Met officers still make up the vast majority of armed resources deployed across London.

+ We are aware of media reporting earlier on Monday suggesting that all firearms officers have stepped back from armed duties.

This is not correct. There are armed Met officers, including counterterrorism officers, on duty across London.