Southport murders inquiry is about stopping such attacks, not blaming counter-terrorism staff

Those who try to keep this country safe from terrorism must be given sufficient resources to deal with the threats we face

The people charged with stopping terrorist attacks have a most important and difficult job. In October, Ken McCallum, director-general of MI5, said the Security Service and police had disrupted 43 attacks in the late stages of planning since March 2017. The country owes them a debt of gratitude for all the lives saved.

However, it is unrealistic to expect that they will always be successful and no one will ever slip through the net. People like Axel Rudakubana, 18, who will be sentenced tomorrow for the murders of three girls in Southport, Merseyside, in July – a tragedy that prompted another when far-right mobs, feeding off disinformation spread on social media, attacked mosques, asylum seekers, ethnic minorities, police officers and others.

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Faced with such an appalling situation, the government is quite correct to order an inquiry. Lessons must be learned and new threats identified. The government must ensure the right processes and adequate resources are in place.

The coffin of Southport stabbing victim Elsie Dot Stancombe is carried out of St John's Church in Birkdale, following her funeral service in August (Picture: Peter Byrne)The coffin of Southport stabbing victim Elsie Dot Stancombe is carried out of St John's Church in Birkdale, following her funeral service in August (Picture: Peter Byrne)
The coffin of Southport stabbing victim Elsie Dot Stancombe is carried out of St John's Church in Birkdale, following her funeral service in August (Picture: Peter Byrne) | PA

Al-Qaeda and Nazi documents

Rudakubana had been referred three times to the government’s anti-extremism programme Prevent before he killed six-year-old Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.

However, the inquiry should be less about apportioning blame to staff, none of whom are perfect, and more about a search for reasons why Rudakubana was not identified as the serious threat he clearly was.

He was found to have made the deadly poison ricin and had an al-Qaeda training manual, along with information about Nazi Germany, the Rwanda genocide, and car bombs. Seemingly, he had an obsession with extreme violence, rather than being motivated to commit senseless murders by one evil cause or another.

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Far-right threat

In addition to tackling the terrorist threat posed by those described by Keir Starmer as "loners, misfits, young men in their bedroom", the government also needs to look at the extent to which social media companies are allowing dangerous content to be distributed and the dangers of organised, far-right groups.

Something went very wrong in Southport. We need to understand why and give the people charged with keeping us all safe the right tools to do their job to the best of their ability.

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