Withholding information on Southport attacker not personal decision – Starmer

The Prime Minister said it was not his “personal decision” to withhold that ricin and a terrorist document were found in the Southport attacker’s home, as he faced questions about what he knew and when.

Police found the ricin, a deadly poison, and the document in a search of Axel Rudakubana’s home after he murdered three girls at a Southport holiday club.

Sir Keir Starmer has stressed that what information could be disclosed up to now has been limited to avoid prejudicing the trial.

He launched an inquiry after Rudakubana pleaded guilty on Monday.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has called for the inquiry into the attack to cover “what the Government knew and when” and “why it wasn’t disclosed”.

During a press conference, Sir Keir was asked if he knew about the ricin and terrorist document found by police.

“Yes, of course I was kept up to date with the facts as they were emerging, that is usual practice.

“But just like you, as a journalist, I had to observe the law of the land.

“It was not my personal decision to withhold this information, any more than it was a journalist’s personal decision not to print or write about it.

“That is the law of the land and it is in place for the reasons I’ve set out to protect the integrity of the system to ensure that the victims and their families get the justice they deserve.”

Rudakubana pleaded guilty to possessing a knife on the date of the attack, production of a biological toxin, ricin, on or before July 29 last year, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.

The terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual, which he is said to have possessed between August 29 2021 and July 30 2024.

Sir Keir said the case shows Britain is facing a new threat of terrorism from “extreme violence carried out by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms”.

Documents about Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide and car bombs were also found on Rudakubana’s devices during police searches of his home.

Sources said the material showed an “obsession with extreme violence” but there was no evidence he subscribed to any political or religious ideology or was “fighting for a cause”.

Mr Philp said “there is quite a lot you can put into the public domain without prejudicing legal proceedings” as he suggested there should have been more transparency earlier over the stabbings.

He pointed to remarks by Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism laws, who last year said the Government and police should be more open about criminal cases to avoid an information gap being filled online.

“In previous incidents, we’ve seen more information being put out and Jonathan Hall drew attention to the risks of not putting out information, it undermines trust in justice, but it also creates a void.

“So, I think these are legitimate questions. I think it’s important the inquiry looks at those questions as well as what happened before this appalling incident,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He told GB News: “We need the inquiry to cover this question, what the Government knew and when, why it wasn’t disclosed?

Reform UK’s Richard Tice accused the Government of “trying to mislead” the public over Rudakubana’s motives.

“It is inconceivable that they did not know within a matter of hours that this guy was a proper wrong ’un,” he told GB News.

He added: “If holding an al-Qaida training manual is not an indication of a political or ideological cause, frankly, I don’t know what is.”