Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for a complete rethink on how ‘we deal with violent’ individuals after three young girls were killed at a Taylor Swift dance class.
Starmer says the United Kingdom need a “fundamental change” in the state’s protection and a redefinition of what terrorism means in today’s world.
The incident happened in Southport last July when a teenager stabbed three young girls and injured several others at a dance and yoga class.
According to Starmer, he’s deeply concerned about the systemic failures that allowed 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana to do this despite multiple warnings about his violent behaviour.
He said a public inquiry will look into the failures in this case, including why Rudakubana was not stopped despite being referred to the government’s Prevent programme three times as a teenager.
He also demanded the government answer how the state agencies missed the warning signs.
Rudakubana changed his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court. This allowed previously secret details to emerge, including he had al-Qaida materials and ricin in his possession, as well as the murder and attempted murder charges he faced.
The attack happened on the first day of the summer holidays when a dozen or so young girls were at a Taylor Swift dance class. What was meant to be a fun day turned into a horror as Rudakubana walked in with a knife and killed Alice Da Silva Aguiar (9), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7) and Bebe King (6).
Eight other girls, 7 to 13 years old, were injured, along with their instructor Leanne Lucas and a passerby John Hayes who intervened.
The tragedy sparked anti-immigrant riots after far-right groups spread lies that the attacker was an asylum seeker. In reality Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents.
Critics accused the government of covering up the truth but Starmer said he was not covering anything up, just making sure the trial was fair.
There are also questions about why this wasn’t classified as terrorism given Rudakubana’s extremist links.
Starmer accepted it as being an issue, but said the traditional definition of terrorism may need to change to deal with new forms of violence.
He pointed out the growing threat from lone actors carrying out extreme violence, often inspired by online radical content.
“It’s clearly extreme violence and meant to terrorize,” Starmer said, saying the law needs to catch up with this new world.
The Southport tragedy, he said, must be a moment for the country to rethink how it deals with this threat and protects its people.
This horrific event has exposed critical gaps in the system and underscored the urgent need for a more proactive approach to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
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