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A car previously owned by the Prime Minister was destroyed in a suspected arson in north London.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating three related incidents, including damage to Sir Keir Starmer’s former properties.
A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.
A car damaged in a suspected arson attack in north London used to belong to the Prime Minister, it can be revealed.
The Toyota Rav 4, which was parked in the same street as Sir Keir Starmer’s family home, was destroyed in a suspicious fire last Thursday (local time).
The car which used to belong to Keir Starmer burning fiercely in an image taken from a nearby building.
It can now be revealed that the car was once owned by the Prime Minister, but it is believed that it was later sold to a neighbour.
Two days after the vehicle blaze, a flat once owned by Starmer in Islington in the 1990s was also damaged in an alleged arson attack.
And in a third incident in the early hours of Monday morning, Starmer’s family home in Tufnell Park was targeted in a suspected firebomb incident.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating the three incidents and a 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.
The Toyota Rav 4 was the same vehicle driven by Starmer when he was involved in a road traffic accident with a Deliveroo driver in Camden.
It earlier emerged that the Prime Minister’s four-bedroom family home in Tufnell Park, north London, is rented to his sister-in-law.
It is understood that since moving into Downing Street following last July’s general election, Starmer has been renting out the property to his sister-in-law and her family for a peppercorn rent.
The arrangement is declared through the ministerial register of interests, but as the rental income does not meet the £10,000-a-year threshold ($22,000), it does not have to be declared on the MPs’ register.
Car fire ‘like a nightmare’
Video has emerged of the car fire that happened yards from the property on May 8. Linda Perry, 80, a retired dinner lady who has lived on the street for more than 30 years, filmed the blaze from her window.
She said: “It was like a nightmare. I heard someone screaming fire and I woke up. I saw the car and went back and got my phone.
“It was a bit of a shock. Having two fires in one week is so strange. But I’m too old to get scared now. When you see something like that it’s so bright. You see it on the television but I’ve never seen it in person.”
Photographs shared with the Telegraph show the car consumed by flames, while a further image taken after the fire was extinguished shows the charred engine of the vehicle, which is believed to have belonged to a neighbour.
The arrested man was detained in the early hours of Tuesday morning on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life in connection with the fire at Starmer’s property. He remains in custody.
The man was detained in Sydenham in south London, Scotland Yard has confirmed.
The area is about 19km from Tufnell Park, where Starmer’s family home was allegedly attacked.
In an update, Scotland Yard said detectives were continuing to question the suspect.
While nobody was hurt in the fire at the family home, the entrance to the terraced property was damaged.
The suspicious blaze at the property in Islington was reported on Sunday. Starmer bought the maisonette in 1991 with his then girlfriend, whom he met at university. He moved out in 1997, selling it for £170,000.
A view of the entrance to Sir Keir Starmer's house in Kentish Town, north London after a suspected arson attack. Photo / Getty Images
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister thanks the emergency services for their work. The incident is subject to a live investigation and we won’t be commenting further.”
London Fire Brigade said it was called just after 1.30am on Monday to reports of a blaze at the entrance of a three-storey terraced property in the Tufnell Park area.
Two fire engines responded and extinguished the blaze while a large number of police also attended the scene.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “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. inquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it.”
The spokesman added that police were investigating whether the three blazes were linked.
Neighbours in the quiet tree-lined street described how they were woken by a loud bang before police arrived.
Charles Grant, 66, said: “Police searched my garden and said they were looking for something somebody had thrown but they didn’t find anything. They said they were looking for a projectile.
“From what other people have told me today, I gather someone threw a firebomb at Keir Starmer’s house.”
He added: “I heard a loud noise at around midnight. I was half asleep. It was some sort of bang. I went back to sleep. I don’t think the damage was too extensive as the house is still standing.
“The front door and the brickwork on either side is black and charred but the door is still standing. It smells of burnt stuff.
“The police said the damage is not extensive — just needs a bit of paintwork.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's former and current homes are under investigation for arson. Photo / Getty Images
Dave Russell, 65, a Tufnell Park neighbour, said: “We just saw the fire engine outside. About 1.30am, the police knocked on the door and asked if we saw anything. And that’s when we found out that someone tried to set his house on fire.”
On the previous fire on May 8, he said: “The car was obviously set alight at 3am. We were all looking at the car set ablaze.
“We thought the car was an accident because it was one of those hybrids but now they think it’s connected. It was really bad, it started banging and everything. We thought it was going to explode. The car was completely gutted.”
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, condemned the suspected arson attacks, writing on X: “This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with the Prime Minister and his family.
“No one should face these sorts of threats, let alone people in public service. It’s an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”
Last year, prior to the general election, the Prime Minister’s home became the target of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
One group hung a banner outside the property that read “Starmer stop killing” surrounded by red hand prints.
Protesters from Youth Demand also placed four rows of children’s shoes in front of the property to represent those killed in Gaza.
Lady Starmer, who is of Jewish heritage, said she felt “a bit sick” when she returned home to see the demonstration.
Monday’s fire broke out just hours before the Prime Minister unveiled plans to clamp down on immigration.
Starmer and his wife bought the three-storey, four-bedroom terraced property in 2004 for £650,000 and lived there until July, when the family moved to Downing Street.
