More to follow…
UPDATE: RUDAKUBANA TO APPEAR IN COURT VIA VIDEO LINK TOMORROW.
UPDATE II: Robert Jenrick said:
“As the dad of three daughters, the Southport attacks hit me personally.
Of course, the legal process needs to be respected but I am seriously concerned that facts may have been withheld from the public here. The Government and authorities told us for months they were not treating this as a terrorist incident. But today, the attacker has been charged with terrorist offences and it’s been revealed that he’d allegedly been reading Al Qaeda manuals.
This atrocity was of immense public concern. The public had a right to know the truth straight away.
Any suggestion of a cover-up will permanently damage public trust in whether we’re being told the truth about crime in our country. Keir Starmer must urgently explain to the country what he knew about the Southport attack and when he learned it.
Across the board the hard reality of mass migration is being covered up. We need the truth — and we need to change.”
Kemi Badenoch said:
“After the Southport murders and the ensuing protests and riots, some people asked me why I wasn’t commenting. This is why.
Too many on all sides rush to conclusions before all the facts are clear. As more information emerges, it is quite clear that there are serious questions to be asked of the police, the CPS and also of Keir Starmer’s response to the whole situation.
Parliament is the right place for this to happen. While we must abide by the rules of contempt of court and not prejudice this case it is important that there is appropriate scrutiny.“
UPDATE III: Nigel Farage says: “The Southport attacker has now been charged with Terrorism offences. Perhaps I was right all along.“
In Henry Mance’s piece today for the FT, lunching with Nigel Farage:
“Splendido!” Farage says, when the drinks arrive; I suppose it’s a step to European reconciliation. We clink glasses, and he lights the first of two back-to-back Benson & Hedges. A few minutes later, we’re back downstairs. “Are you drinking? Good.” He orders a glass of Sauvignon blanc for each of us — not a bottle, “because it’s Lent” — followed by a bottle of claret, to have with our meal. They say Farage drinks less than he used to. They say a lot of things.”