00:00There are no adequate words to describe the horror of the events in Southport on July 29th,
00:072024. Only the feelings of shock and pain. B.B. King, Elsie Dot Stankham and Alice de Silva Aguiar
00:16all died in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. Eight other children and two adults
00:23were stabbed but survived. Yesterday, after months of silence, 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana
00:30admitted all charges against him. It is clear that this was a young man with a sickening
00:37and sustained interest in death and violence. He has shown no signs of remorse. It can now
00:45be reported that Rudakubana was excluded from school in 2019 over claims he was carrying a knife.
00:53He later returned to the school and assaulted someone with a hockey stick. And his fixation
00:58with violence led him to be referred multiple times to prevent the British government's
01:03anti-extremism programme from the age of 13. This morning, the Prime Minister launched a
01:09public inquiry into the Southport attack. He admitted the state had failed but rejected
01:15accusations of a cover-up. The law carefully restricts what can be said by anyone, not just
01:22me as Prime Minister, but anybody in these circumstances, and it is done to protect the
01:27family and their victims. If this trial had collapsed because I or anyone else had revealed
01:36crucial details while the police were investigating, then the vile individual who committed
01:43these crimes would have walked away a free man. The Conservatives have welcomed the announcement
01:50of the inquiry and have called for questions to be answered about what the government knew and when.
01:56This public inquiry should also cover the government's response after these terrible
02:01murders. Were they as open and transparent as they could have been? Jonathan Hall, the independent
02:06reviewer of terrorism legislation, says there is a lot you can say without prejudicing subsequent
02:12trials, and we need to understand if the government's potential failure to be completely
02:16open and transparent contributed in any way to those appalling and unacceptable riots that followed.
02:26Online speculation and misinformation about the attack helped fuel last summer's riots.
02:32One legal expert says the government could have said more at the time. I think there was a very,
02:37very poor eight hours after the immediate attack where social media went completely mad, and it
02:43was really up to the authorities, I think, to give a calm, sober, honest and authoritative account of
02:47what they could say. Frankly, this man was only ever going to be convicted of murder or manslaughter,
02:53and it really is hard to see why more information couldn't have been given to the public.
02:57Sakhir Starmer has promised justice and change for the families and people of Southport.
03:03Axel Rudikibana will be sentenced on Thursday.
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