Britain is facing a new terror threat from a generation of young men in their bedrooms accessing radical materials online, Sir Keir Starmer has warned.
The prime minister laid the groundwork for an overhaul of terrorism laws to guard against the new threat of “loners and misfits” driven to acts of extreme violence by “all manner of material online”.
Responding to Axel Rudakubana pleading guilty to the murder of three children in a mass stabbing at a Taylor-Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Sir Keir said “terrorism has changed”.
At a press conference in Downing Street on Tuesday, the PM said he understood why the killings would make people question “what the word terrorism means”.
He said: “The blunt truth here is that this case is a sign. Britain now faces a new threat. Terrorism has changed.
“In the past, the predominant threat was highly organised groups with clear political intent. Groups like al-Qaeda.
“That threat of course remains. But now, alongside that we also see acts of extreme violence perpetrated by loners, misfits, young men in their bedroom, accessing all manner of material online, desperate for notoriety.”
And, hinting at an overhaul in the way terrorism is approached in the UK, Sir Keir said: “When I look at the details of this case. The extreme nature of the violence. The meticulous plan to attack young children in a place of joy and safety. Violence clearly intended to terrorise. Then I understand why people wonder what the word ‘terrorism’ means.
“And so, if the law needs to change to recognise this new and dangerous threat, then we will change it – and quickly.”
Sir Keir also promised a review of the UK’s counterextremism system to ensure the tools are in place to defeat it, to be carried out by David Anderson KC, a crossbench peer and former independent reviewer of terrorist legislation.
Rudakubana, aged 18, also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of eight more children and two adults as well as two terror offences of producing the deadly poison ricin and possession of a document which contained al-Qaeda training material.
He had been due to stand trial for four weeks at Liverpool Crown Court, having denied the charges last year. But he changed his plea on the first day of the trial.
Six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe were killed during the attack on 29 July 2024, while nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar died from her injuries in hospital afterwards.
Rudakubana, who was described by the Crown Prosecution Service as having a “sickening” fascination with death and violence, was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff before his family moved to Banks, Lancashire. He was 17 at the time of the attack.
Despite his repeated contact with state agencies such as anti-terror watchdog Prevent, authorities failed to stop Rudakubana’s attack.
The al-Qaeda training manual, which he possessed between August 2021 and July last year, was entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants. Searches of his home also turned up documents about Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide and car bombs.
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”.
Unrest erupted across the country in the wake of the Southport attack, with mosques and hotels used for asylum seekers among the locations targeted.
In the hours after the stabbing, information spread online which claimed the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat.
The day after the attack, thousands turned out for a peaceful vigil in Southport, but later a separate protest outside a mosque in the town became violent, with missiles thrown at police and vans set on fire.
More than 1,000 arrests linked to disorder across the country have been made since the attack, and hundreds of people have been charged and jailed
But, on Tuesday, Sir Keir hit back at claims of a “cover-up” over the killer’s identity and his violent background.
The PM admitted that he knew in the wake of the attack that Rudakubana was known to the authorities and that he had produced biological toxin ricin and possessed the al-Qaeda training manual.
But he said he could not disclose the information without collapsing Rudakubana’s trial due to contempt of court laws, which would have seen the killer walk away “a free man”.
Critics such as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage doubled down on claims the PM had covered up vital information about the killer, accusing him of “hiding behind the contempt of court argument”.
“This is simply untrue, the country needed to know the truth about this murderer and that he was known to the authorities,” Mr Farage said.
Sir Keir and home secretary Yvette Cooper have announced an independent inquiry into how the state failed to identify the risk posed by Rudakubana, with the PM promising that he will “leave no stone unturned” in the pursuit of answers.
The PM said the killings must be “a line in the sand for Britain”, adding: “We must make sure the names of those three young girls are not associated with the vile perpetrator, but instead with a fundamental change in how Britain protects its citizens.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the government’s inquiry into the tragedy must focus on what the government chose to disclose to the public and why.
She said: “The prime minister’s announcement of an inquiry into the Southport murders is welcome.
“But contrast his press conference in No 10 this morning with the government’s silence in the days following the horrific attacks. There remain serious questions about the transparency of government information at the time of the unrest that followed these horrific killings.”
