Starmer is set to deliver a speech in Downing Street this morning on Axel Rudakubana, who pleaded guilty yesterday to murdering three girls in Southport, downloading an al-Qaeda terror manual, and making ricin. Rudakubana had been referred not once, but three times to the Prevent anti-extremism programme, with social services and police all aware of his ‘deep and dark’ interest with extreme violence. Last night, Yvette Cooper called for a public inquiry into the state’s failings in preventing the attack. A change of tune from Labour’s usual aversion to launching public inquiries…
Farage is still raging on X about the cover-up, while Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said this morning that we “need to know who in government knew what and when, as well as why the authorities may have withheld some information from the public.” Starmer is expected to say the government must now “ask, and answer, difficult questions unburdened by cultural or institutional sensitivities and driven only by the pursuit of justice.” He’s also set to confirm the name of a new independent commissioner for the UK’s anti-terror programme, Prevent. A far cry from his stance during the summer riots, when Starmer insisted that “the time for answering those questions is not now”…
Watch live as @Keir_Starmer delivers a press statement on the Southport attack from the Downing Street Briefing Room https://t.co/bqDzXmOEVF
— PA Media (@PA) January 21, 2025
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood introduced her speech on migration reforms at the IPPR:
“There’s no denying we meet at a difficult time for my party.”