Escaped prisoner: no confirmed sightings of Daniel Khalife since his escape, police say – as it happened

Lack of confirmed sightings a little unusual', says head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command

An investigation is under way into why a former soldier accused of terrorism who is now on the run was held in a lower-security prison, Michelle Donelan, the science secretary, said. She added that the government's top priority" was tracking down Daniel Khalife, who absconded from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday morning by clinging to the bottom of a delivery van, the Guardian's Aubrey Allegretti reports.

The Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, when talking to Nick Ferrari from LBC about the prisoner escape at Wandsworth prison, has said the government sat on their hands". She also claimed that she had raised concerns about conditions and staffing levels in the prison many, many months ago".

Speaking to Sky news, the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, says there were grave questions" about how Khalife, who was awaiting trial for terrorism and Official Secrets Act offences, was able to escape prison.

Responding to Khalife's escape, the Prison Officers Association (POA), has highlighted staffing shortages and budget cuts. Mark Fairhurst, the POA national chair, said: Wandsworth is one of the largest prisons in the country and is overcrowded and under resourced. The chronic staffing shortages and lack of adequate training for staff highlight the need for an urgent review of how our prisons are run. We await the results of an internal investigation so we may ensure this is not repeated."

Earlier, the technology secretary, Michelle Donelan, said it wasn't helpful to draw a link between over-capacity, understaffing, and the prison escape until there had been a thorough investigation". She told ITV's Good Morning Britain programme: We can't say why this happened until we've got the results of that investigation. I don't think it's helpful to get into a hypothetical of what was the cause, or what allowed this individual to evade the system and manage to escape."

Responding to Daniel Abed Khalife's escape, the Prison Officers Association (POA), has highlighted staffing shortages and budget cuts.

Wandsworth is one of the largest prisons in the country and is overcrowded and under resourced. The chronic staffing shortages and lack of adequate training for staff highlight the need for an urgent review of how our prisons are run. We await the results of an internal investigation so we may ensure this is not repeated.

No one ever wants to see an escape from prison but since 2010 this union has been on record as saying cuts have consequences. You cannot take out 900m from the budget with reduced staffing levels up and down the country and expect the Prison Service to operate as if nothing has happened. Government needs to take responsibility for the decimation of the Prison Service with less staff and more prisoners and Wandsworth is a typical example of what life is like for serving prison officers operating in a stressful and violent workplace with inadequate staff levels caring for over 1600 prisoners at that establishment.