Sir Keir Starmer is addressing the nation after the Government announced an inquiry into how the state failed to identify the risk posed by the Southport killer.
Axel Rudakubana, who pleaded guilty yesterday to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July, 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.
The Prime Minister said the Southport kilings “must be a line in the sand for Britain” and there must be “fundamental change” in how the country protects its children
Following Rudakubana’s guilty pleas yesterday, 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 Prime Minister added: “Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.”
Announcing the inquiry, 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”.
With some opposition figures alleging a “cover-up” of Rudakubana’s contact with the authorities, Sir Keir is likely to face questions about why this information had not been published earlier.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he had been “right all along” when he claimed in the summer that information had been withheld from the public.
