Starmer says there was NO Southport 'cover-up' but condemns 'failings'

Keir Starmer dismissed claims of a Southport 'cover-up' today as he insisted there will be a full inquiry into how the state failed to stop the killer going on the rampage.

The PM told a press conference in Downing Street that people were right to 'demand answers' over 'failings' in the case of Axel Rudakubana. 

Sir Keir said it was a 'devastating moment in our history' and must be a 'line in the sand' for Britain, warning that 'terrorism has changed' with the threat of 'acts of extreme violence carried out by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms'. 

He stressed that the probe should be 'unburdened by cultural sensitivities' and institutions will not be allowed to 'deflect' responsibility. 'I'm angry about it... Nothing will be off the table in this inquiry,' he said.

However, he flatly rejected allegations of a 'cover-up' of terrorist links in the immediate aftermath of the atrocity in July - which was followed by a wave of rioting across the country. 

He confirmed he knew about the details 'as they were emerging' - rather than in October when extra charges were brought - but could not risk the case collapsing and the 'vile' perpetrator walking away free.

'That is why the law of this country forbade me or anybody else from disclosing details sooner,' he said. 'I wouldn't be forgiven if I had.'

He added: 'It was not my personal decision to withhold this information, any more than it was a journalist's personal decision not to print or write about it.' 

Sir Keir said he was under 'no illusions' that the lack of 'trust' will continue until the state is 'honest' about problems and 'roots them out'.

But he insisted he had been inspired by the response of the Southport community, who rebuilt despite the tragedy being compounded by violence on the streets.

'Responsibility for the disorder and violence lies with those who perpetrated it,' he said. 

The Tories and Reform said there were still 'serious questions' about the transparency of government information in the wake of the killings.

Laying out details of the public inquiry in the Commons this afternoon, Yvette Cooper said it was 'unbearable' that action might have prevented the attack.

Challenged over the timing of information being released, Ms Cooper said: 'It is not for the government to ignore the rules or the advice that we are given when justice for the families is at stake.' 

PM warns UK faces threat of US-style school attacks by 'young men' radicalised by online violence  

Keir Starmer today warned that Britain faces the threat of US-style school attacks by 'young men' radicalised by online violence.

The PM said the 'new' danger from 'loners and misfits' might require a change in the law.  

He told a Downing Street press conference that previously the 'predominant threat was highly organised groups with clear political intent – groups like al Qaida'.

'That threat, of course, remains but now alongside that we also see acts of extreme violence perpetrated by loners, misfits, young men in their bedroom accessing all manner of material online – desperate for notoriety, sometimes inspired by traditional terrorist groups, but fixated on that extreme violence, seemingly for its own sake,' Sir Keir said.

The PM continued: 'My concern in this case is we have clearly got an example of extreme violence, individualised violence, that we have to protect our children from and our citizens from.

'It is a new threat, it's not what we would have usually thought of as terrorism when definitions were drawn up, when guidelines were put in place, when the framework was put in place and we have to recognise that here today.'

He said the law and framework for responding needed to be appropriate to the 'new threat' and whatever changes were necessary in the law would be made.

Sir Keir continued: 'I do think it's new. You've seen versions of it in America with some of the mass shootings in schools.

'It is not an isolated, ghastly example. It is, in my view, an example of a different kind of threat and that is why I'm absolutely so determined that we will rise to that challenge and make sure that our law, our response, is capable, appropriate and can deal with that sort of threat.

'But that is my concern, that is my thinking that this is a new threat – individualised extreme violence, obsessive, often following online viewing of material from all sorts of different sources.

'It is not a one-off. It is something that we all need to understand and have a shared undertaking to deal with within our society.

'That is not just the laws on terrorism, the framework on terrorism, it's also the laws on what we can access online.

'We still have rules in place in this country about what you can see at a cinema and yet online you can access no end of material. We have to ensure that we can rise to this new challenge and that is what I'm determined to do.'

Rudakubana pleaded guilty yesterday to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July.

It has emerged he was referred three times to anti-extremism programme Prevent amid concerns over his fixation with violence.

But despite this and contact with other state agencies, the authorities failed to stop the attack which claimed the lives of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.

As well as the three murders, Rudakubana admitted 10 counts of attempted murder, possession of a knife, production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit acts of terrorism. The charges relating to the possession of ricin and the al Qaida training manual were not made public for three months after the teenager's arrest. 

Sir Keir said: 'No words come anywhere close to expressing the brutality and horror in this case.

'Every parent in Britain will have had the same thought. It could have been anywhere, it could have been our children, but it was Southport. It was Bebe, six years old. Elsie, seven. Alice, nine.

'Back in August, I said there will be a time for questions, but that first, justice had to be done, and that, above all, we must not interfere with the work of the police, the prosecutors and the delivery of that justice.

'Well, yesterday, thankfully, a measure of justice was done, but it won't bring those girls back to their families, and it won't remove the trauma from the lives of those who were injured, their lives will never be the same.

'So before I turn to the questions that must now be answered for the families and the nation, I first want to recognise their unimaginable grief, because I know the whole country grieves for them.

'The tragedy of the Southport killings must be a line in the sand for Britain.'

Laying out the new danger the country faces, Sir Keir said: 'In the past, the predominant threat was highly organised groups with clear political intent. Groups like Al-Qaeda.

'That threat of course remains. But now, alongside that we also see acts of extreme violence perpetrated by loners, misfits, young men in their bedroom, accessing all manner of material online, desperate for notoriety.

'Sometimes inspired by traditional terrorist groups. But fixated on that extreme violence, seemingly for its own sake.

'Now, it may well be that people like this are harder to spot. But we can't shrug our shoulders and accept that.'

Sir Keir said the threat was similar to some of the mass shootings in schools in the US.

'This is extreme violence, clearly intended to terrorise, and my concern is that because it is different to the sort of behaviour we've associated with terrorism - al Qaida, there are plenty of other examples, which tended to be more organised in groups with a clear political ideology and motive - because it is not that, it is a new and different threat, it doesn't fit as well as it should within our framework,' he said.

'That is what we've got to change. That is the urgent question that has to be addressed and it's one that has to be addressed before the conclusion of the inquiry and it's why we've already done the learning from the Prevent mistakes.

'I do think it's new. You've seen versions of it in America with some of the mass shootings in schools. It is not an isolated, ghastly example, it is, in my view, an example of a different kind of threat and that is why I'm absolutely so determined that we will rise to that challenge and make sure that our law, our response, is capable, appropriate and can deal with that sort of threat.

'But that is my concern, that is my thinking that this is a new threat - individualised extreme violence, obsessive, often following online viewing of material from all sorts of different sources.

'It is not a one-off. It is something that we all need to understand and have a shared undertaking to deal with within our society.

'That is not just the laws on terrorism, the framework on terrorism, it's also the laws on what we can access online.

'We still have rules in place in this country about what you can see at a cinema and yet online you can access no end of material. We have to ensure that we can rise to this new challenge and that is what I'm determined to do.'

Directly addressing the cover-up claims, the PM said: 'Yes I knew the details as they were emerging 

He said: 'Yes of course I was kept up to date with the facts as they emerged. But just like you as a journalist I had to obey the law of the land.' 

Asked if he viewed the killings as an act of terrorism - a label the police have not used - he insisted it was an act of 'extreme violence clearly intended to terrorise'. 

Announcing an inquiry last night, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the country needed 'independent answers' on Prevent and other agencies' contact with the 'extremely violent' Rudakubana and 'how he came to be so dangerous'.

Following Rudakubana's guilty pleas, Sir Keir described the 18-year-old as 'vile and sick', and said there were 'grave questions to answer' on how the state 'failed' to protect the three girls.

The PM added: 'Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.'

As well as the three murders, Rudakubana admitted 10 counts of attempted murder, possession of a knife, production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit acts of terrorism.

The terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual.

He is also understood to have possessed numerous other documents on violent subjects, including A Concise History Of Nazi Germany, The Myth Of The Remote Controlled Car Bomb and Amerindian Torture And Cultural Violence.

Sources said the material discovered showed an 'obsession with extreme violence' but there was no evidence he ascribed to any political or religious ideology or was 'fighting for a cause'.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage insisted he was 'right all along' when he claimed in the summer that information had been withheld from the public.

But Ms Cooper said the information about Rudakubana's background could not be made public earlier 'to avoid jeopardising the legal proceedings or prejudicing the possible jury trial, in line with the normal rules of the British justice system'.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said there were many questions that 'remain unanswered about what went wrong'.

Welcoming the announcement of a public inquiry, he said: 'We also need to know who in Government knew what and when, as well as why the authorities may have withheld some information from the public.'

Mr Philp told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'There is quite a lot you can put into the public domain without prejudicing the judicial proceedings.

'In previous incidents, we've seen more information being put out and Jonathan Hall drew attention to the risks of not putting out information, it undermines trust in justice, but it also creates a void.

'So, I think these are legitimate questions. I think it's important the inquiry looks at those questions as well as what happened before this appalling incident.'

Asked whether he was confident in the Prevent counter-terrorism programme, he told Times Radio: 'The Prevent programme is a long-running programme. It deals with about 7,000 referrals per year.

'There was quite a comprehensive review of Prevent by William Shawcross that was published in February of last year … So, one question I'll be asking the Government is whether they plan to implement the recommendations in the Shawcross report.

'I think it's just important the inquiry looks at all of this, gets to the truth both about what happened beforehand, but critically also the Government's response afterwards, and what they knew when and whether they should have put more information into the public domain.

'It appears they withheld information about the perpetrator, potentially, on CPS advice.

'William Shawcross has raised questions over that, saying that if you leave a void, then speculation fills it, and William Shawcross is obviously an expert lawyer, and also says there's quite a lot you can say about these incidents afterwards.

'But clearly in this case, the Government, it appears, didn't share information which they had in their possession.'

Southport stabbings, summer riots and court apperarances timeline 

• 2002: Rudakubana's father Alphonse moves to the UK from Rwanda, according to an interview he gave to his local newspaper in Southport in 2015.
• August 7, 2006: Rudakubana is born in Cardiff, Wales.
• 2013: The family - including Rudakubana's father, mother and older brother - move from Wales to Banks in Lancashire, a few miles from Southport.
• July 29, 2024: Shortly before midday, a knifeman enters a dance class at The Hart Space in Hart Street in Southport. Bebe, Elsie and Alice are fatally wounded. Eight other children are injured, as are instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Police say they have detained a male and seized a knife. Within hours, claims spread online that the suspect is an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat in 2023. Some claims include an alleged identity.
• July 30, 2024: In the evening, a peaceful vigil is held outside Southport's Atkinson arts venue, where flowers are laid in memory of those who died. Shortly after the vigil, a separate protest begins outside the town's mosque in St Luke's Road. People throw items towards the mosque, property is damaged and police vehicles are set on fire.
• July 31, 2024: Demonstrators gather in Whitehall, London, for an 'Enough Is Enough' protest. Flares and cans are thrown at police and more than 100 people are arrested. Disorder also breaks out in Hartlepool, County Durham, and Aldershot, Hampshire.
• August 1, 2024: Police announce that Rudakubana has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article. He is not named by police because of his age. He appears in court in Liverpool and Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC rules he can be named, following a request led by the Daily Mail, as he is due to turn 18 in a week. He initially smiled on entering the courtroom - then kept his face covered by his sweatshirt for the remainder of the proceedings before the case was adjourned. Later that evening, demonstrators gather outside a hotel in Newton Heath, Manchester.
• August 2, 2024: Three police officers are taken to hospital after disorder in Sunderland.
• August 3, 2024: There are scenes of violence during planned protests across the UK, including in Liverpool, Hull, Nottingham and Belfast.
• August 4, 2024: Disorder continues, including outside a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where masked demonstrators launch lengths of wood and sprayed fire extinguishers at police officers.
• August 5, 2024: The Government holds an emergency Cobra meeting in the wake of the disorder and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vows to 'ramp up criminal justice'. That evening, a peaceful vigil is held in Southport, a week on from the killings. Police deal with disorder in Plymouth, Devon and Darlington, County Durham.
• August 7, 2024: Prison sentences for those involved in the unrest begin to be handed out. Derek Drummond, 58, is the first person to be jailed for violent disorder at Liverpool Crown Court, where he is sentenced to three years. More than 100 protests are planned for across the country, with counter-demonstrations taking place, but the majority of police forces report very little trouble.
• October 29, 2024: Merseyside Police announces Rudakubana will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court via videolink the next day charged with production of a biological toxin, Ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
• October 30, 2024: Rudakubana appears at Westminster Magistrates' Court via videolink from HMP Belmarsh to face the two new charges. He holds his sweater over the bottom half of his face and does not respond when asked to confirm his name.
• November 13, 2024: Rudakubana appears at Liverpool Crown Court via videolink. He covers his face with his grey sweatshirt and does not speak throughout the hearing. About 20 family members of victims sit in the public gallery. The case is adjourned until December 12, when a preparatory hearing will take place.
• January 20, 2025: Rudakubana appears at Liverpool Crown Court for the first day of his trial where he pleads guilty to all 16 charges, including the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.