October 30, 2024 - 1:40pm

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has today warned Conservative leadership candidates Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick not to undermine the police when it comes to information surrounding the Southport stabbing case.

Responding to a question from Reform UK MP Richard Tice at the pre-Budget Prime Minister’s Questions about whether withholding information in terror-related incidents creates an “information gap”, Starmer appeared to disagree. The Labour leader said he would “tread carefully” in answering, but then turned the focus to the Tory leadership hopefuls. “They can either support the police in their difficult task or they can undermine the police in their difficult task,” he said. “I know what side I’m on.”

At the start of the session, Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle blocked MPs from asking explicit questions about the case. “It is of paramount importance that nothing is said in this House that could prejudice a proper trial,” he said. “At the heart of this case are three young girls.”

These comments come just a day after it was revealed that Axel Rudakubana, the 18-year-old accused of murdering three girls at a dance class in Southport, was in possession of an al-Qaeda manual. The stabbing, which occurred on 29 July and was described by Merseyside Police as “not believed to be terror-related”, precipitated large-scale riots less than a month into Labour’s term.

Shortly after the killings, rumours spread on social media that the perpetrator was a recent Muslim immigrant to the country named “Ali al-Shakati”. In fact, Rudakubana was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff. As a result, the riots were blamed on the spreading of false information.

The release of information that Rudakubana was in possession of terror-related material and had produced the poison ricin comes amid reports that the Government had been aware of this some weeks ago but did not report it until the day before the Budget. The timing of this announcement has led to accusations that Number 10 was attempting to bury the news that might lead to more civil unrest. Rudakubana appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday via videolink from Belmarsh Prison after being charged with terror offences in addition to three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.

In response to the news that Rudakubana possessed an al-Qaeda manual, Badenoch explained why she had until now remained silent on the issue. “After the Southport murders and the ensuing protests and riots, some people asked me why I wasn’t commenting. This is why,” she wrote online.

“Too many on all sides rush to conclusions before all the facts are clear,” she claimed in a post yesterday. “As more information emerges, it is quite clear that there are serious questions to be asked of the police, the CPS and also of Keir Starmer’s response to the whole situation.”


Max Mitchell is UnHerd’s Assistant Editor, Newsroom.

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