Counter-terror police investigating fire at Starmer's north London house

Counter-terror police are investigating a fire at the prime minister's house in north London.

The blaze at the property, which Sir Keir Starmer rents out after he became prime minister last year, happened in the early hours of this morning. The entrance to the house was damaged in the fire.

Politics latest: Starmer announces migration crackdown Nobody was hurt and a police cordon remains in place. A statement from the Metropolitan Police said: "On Monday 12 May at 1.35am, police were alerted by the London Fire Brigade to reports of a fire at a residential address.

"Officers attended the scene. Damage was caused to the property's entrance, nobody was hurt.

"As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire. Enquiries are ongoing to establish the potential cause of the fire." At one point, a length of the street was cordoned off to all vehicles.

London Fire Brigade said firefighters were called just after 1am, and the blaze was out within half an hour. It described the incident as "a small fire outside a property".

Sir Keir is understood to still own the home, but has lived at the prime minister's official residence in Downing Street since Labour won the election in July. Read more:What are Mr Starmer's new immigration rules?Why movie line reflects public mood on prisonsHow PM sealed Trump trade deal Sir Keir expressed his gratitude to the police and fire services via his official spokesman, who said: "I can only say that the prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work, and it is subject to a live investigation.

So I can't comment any further." On Monday, Sir Keir made a major policy speech on immigration, promising to bring down net migration by the end of this parliament with a system that is "controlled, selective and fair". He did not clarify how far he wants figures to fall, only saying numbers will come down "substantially" as he set out plans in the government's Immigration White Paper, including banning care homes from hiring overseas..