UK could change terrorism laws after Southport attack, Starmer says
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that Britain faced a new and dangerous form of extremism, warning that loners and misfits were being radicalized by “a wave of violence”. forces spread freely on the Internet.
in one speech at Downing StreetMr Starmer said that unlike the terrorist threat posed by organized groups such as Al Qaeda, where a clear ideology can be identified, some young people are increasingly wedded to extremist violence. for its own sake. He compared the brutal murder of three girls at a dance class last July in Southport, England, to several school shootings that have occurred in the United States.
On Monday, Axel Rudakubana, 18, admitted to murdering three girls in the coastal town of Southport and plotted to kill 10 others. The attack last summer causing riots in several towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland.
said Serena Kennedy, chief constable of Merseyside Police, the force that covers Southport in a statement on Monday that Mr. Rudakubana had “one Unhealthy obsession with extreme violence,” evidenced by a series of documents, images, videos and texts about violence, conflict and genocide that he viewed on his digital devices.
“We know that he has researched many documents online that show that obsession,” she said, adding: “From all those documents, no ideology has been discovered and that is why this is not considered terrorism.”
On Monday, the government announced a public inquiry after it emerged that the perpetrator had been referred three times to an anti-terrorism program called Prevent, when he was 13 and 14 years old. , because of its interest in extreme violence. Because he was not believed to be motivated by terrorist ideology, he was not considered fit to intervene.
Mr Starmer said the ruling was “clearly wrong” and he would not let any state organization “deviate from their failure”, which “in this case, frankly, was mistake”.
He denied claims from right-wing British media that there had been a cover-up around the killings, saying he had been briefed on the police investigation while it was under way. was carried out but was prevented by law from revealing information about the perpetrator before anything could happen. testing. Strict rules governing the disclosure of information during ongoing court proceedings in the UK ensure the right to a fair trial.
“If this trial collapses because I or anyone else has revealed important details while the police are investigating while the case is being built, while We are waiting for the verdict, then the despicable person who committed these crimes will walk away a free man,” Mr. Starmer said.
In the days after the July 29 attacks, right-wing critics suggested that information about the perpetrators had been withheld to contain public outrage. The riots broke out after the rapid spread of misinformation about the killer’s identity – including false claims that he was an undocumented immigrant recently arrived from Syria. Mr. Rudakubana was born in Wales.
Police announced in October that after searching Mr. Rudakubana’s home, they found ricin, a deadly poison, and a PDF file titled “Military Research in the Jihad against Tyrants: Cam Al Qaeda training capsule”. But in Monday’s statement, investigators made clear that the killer’s interest in violence was broad and did not appear to stem from any ideology.
Mr Starmer said the Southport attack was “a sign” that terrorism was growing and that Britain faced a new threat alongside more organized groups, such as those with related to or inspired by Al Qaeda.
“We also see acts of extreme violence committed by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms, accessing all kinds of material online,” Mr. Starmer said. crave fame,” Mr. Starmer said, adding that, while such people are sometimes inspired by traditional terrorist groups. , they are “obsessed with that extreme violence, seemingly for its own sake.”
Mr Starmer said because such acts were designed for terrorist purposes, UK anti-terrorism laws may need to change to recognize and tackle the new threat.
“I actually think it’s new — you’ve seen versions of it in America with some of the mass shootings in schools,” he said. “It is not an isolated, terrible example. In my view, this is an example of a different kind of threat.”
Speaking in Parliament, Yvette Cooper, Minister of Home Affairs, said Mr. Rudakubana had admitted to carrying a knife 10 times and that despite having a criminal record for violence and being only 17 years old, he could still have easily ordered one. knives on Amazon. .
“It is an absolute disgrace and it must change,” she said, adding that the government “will introduce stronger measures to tackle online knife sales.”
Ms. Cooper also told lawmakers that the government would contact technology companies to ask them to remove dangerous material viewed by Mr. Rudakubana, adding that companies “should not profit from hosting content puts children’s lives at risk.”
Previously, Mr Starmer argued that the tragedy of the Southport murders was “definitely a demarcation for Britain”. It would address questions “that are far-reaching, unburdened by cultural or institutional sensitivities and motivated solely by the pursuit of justice,” he said.
Chris Philp, spokesman for the opposition Conservative Party on home affairs, welcomes its establishment about a public inquiry but said it should investigate “what the government knew when,” whether the government was “as open and transparent with the public as it could be” and whether there was any whether any lack of transparency contributed to the riots.
