Keir Starmer Sends Message to Families of Southport Attack Victims, You Won’t Believe What He Said

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has not said if anyone will be fired after the review of how the government handled Southport killer Axel Rudakubana’s case under the anti-terror program.

Starmer said the review will be taken seriously, and the right decisions will be made.

Speaking at the UK National Nuclear Laboratory near Preston, he said: “No one can avoid responsibility for what the review finds.”

“We must follow the evidence. But I will not let any government agency avoid the consequences of its failure,” he added.

On Wednesday, February 5, the government released the review’s findings, which showed that Rudakubana’s case was closed too soon.

Rudakubana was referred to the Prevent program three times when he was 13 and 14. He also had contact with the police, courts, youth justice system, social services, and mental health services before carrying out the stabbings in Southport.

He was sentenced to at least 52 years in prison for killing Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, and Alice da Silva Aguiar and trying to kill 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.

The government has accepted all 14 recommendations from the Prevent review and has started an internal review of Prevent’s rules. This is expected to be finished by April.

Starmer said changes will be made before the public inquiry into the Southport attack is completed.

He said: “We have set up an inquiry, but I want to assure the victims, their families, and the public that we will not wait until it is over to start making changes.

“We need this inquiry to answer many questions, but we will begin the necessary changes now.

“Some changes to Prevent have already been made, but we need to do more and act faster.”

He added: “We will not sit around and wait.”

The Prime Minister pointed out problems with the Prevent system that may have caused missed chances to stop killers who do not follow a known ideology, like Rudakubana.

“There were mistakes, and I will not hesitate to take action. We cannot ignore this.

“I believe there is a problem with the system. It seems to only focus on people with a specific ideology.

“I think that is too limited, and we need to fix it. We will make these changes before the inquiry is finished.”

He also said every decision on this matter will be made with the victims and their families in mind.