Defence Secretary John Healey told Sky News he hoped Axel Rudakubana would spend the rest of his life in prison following the killing of Bebe, Alice and Elise in Southport last year.
Friday 24 January 2025 07:41, UK
Defence Secretary John Healey is asked if he thinks the 52-year sentence for Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is long enough.
There have been calls from Reform UK MPs for the reintroduction of capital punishment in response to the case.
Due to Rudakubana being 17 when he carried out the attack, he could not be sentenced to a whole life term.
Asked if the death sentence should be back on the agenda in the UK, Mr Healey says: “I felt it actually hard to catch my breath when I read about the details and about the unbelievable savagery of this man who killed Bebe and Elsie and Alice, and quite clearly would have killed the other 26 young girls in that dance class if he’d been able too.”
He added that Sir Keir Starmer was “right” to say that “nothing is off the table” and that “any changes that are necessary” need to be made get justice for victims and deliver the changes they “deserve”.
On the specifics of Rudakubana’s sentence, Mr Healey said: “The judge passed the sentence yesterday of 52 years and made it clear that he doesn’t think that Rudakabana will ever get out of prison – and I hope that is the case.”
Defence Secretary John Healey is speaking to Sky News this morning.
It comes after he revealed to MPs earlier this week that a UK submarine helped warn off a Russian spy ship from UK waters.
There are reports the ship may have been scouting undersea cables and infrastructure around Britain.
The defence secretary is asked if destroying cables would be an act of war, with several examples of such incidents happening around the world in recent years.
Mr Healey says: “This is undoubtedly part of the wider Russian aggression that we’re seeing directed to the UK and other Western nations.”
He highlights the fact the UK and other nations launched a joint exercise to step up surveillance across the Baltic and into the English Channel to track spy vessels.
Mr Healey is also asked if his job is made easier when the world sees Donald Trump call for more defence spending from the UK and other NATO members.
The defence secretary says “everyone agrees” that defence spending needs to go up – and points out Labour has a commitment to raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.
By Darren McCaffrey, Sky business presenter
Britain faces four years of economic pain because the government has made life difficult for businesses following the budget, the co-founder of BrewDog has told Sky News.
James Watt has also suggested the UK is work-shy and only hard graft will lead to prosperity, which is lacking in the country.
It comes on the day Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announces a new review named “Keep Britain Working” in an effort to support people with long-term illnesses or disabilities back into work, while trying to lower the ballooning welfare bill.
The review will be led by former John Lewis chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield at a time when around 3.7 million people of working age receive health-related benefits, which is 1.2 million more than in February 2020.
Britain is now spending more on incapacity and disability benefits (almost £65bn) than defence – and that figure is set to rise.
Mr Watt, who stepped down as BrewDog chief executive last May, made headlines earlier this month after posting a video with fiancee Georgia Toffolo in which they said they do not believe in a “work-life balance”.
By Joely Santa Cruz, data journalist, and Faye Brown, political reporter
A record number of children are living in B&Bs beyond the legal limit as England’s homelessness crisis pushes councils to breaking point.
MPs said there is a “dire need” for housing reform, with the lack of affordable homes forcing cash-strapped local authorities to haemorrhage their funds on temporary accommodation.
The “crisis situation” means there is less money in the pot to focus on homelessness prevention, the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said.
Councils are instead having to prioritise short-term solutions which can include putting families in bed and breakfasts – the fastest rising temporary accommodation type over the past decade, a Sky News analysis of government data found.
Temporary accommodation is meant to be a short-term solution for people who are homeless while they wait for more suitable and long-term housing options.
But the rising number of homeless households in England, driven by a shortage of social or otherwise affordable housing to move on to, means that increasingly this fix is anything but temporary.
The government should set time limits for public inquiries and “not let them go on for years and years”, Harriet Harman has said.
The Labour peer told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast it is “perfectly possible for them to get on and do their job quickly”.
Speaking after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced an inquiry into the Southport attack, Ms Harman said it should take “18 months, 18 months max”.
There are several public inquiries currently ongoing, including the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, the infected blood inquiry and the COVID inquiry.
The Post Office inquiry, looking at the wrongful conviction of hundreds of postmasters and mistresses due to faulty IT software, started in 2020 and was extended in 2021 and given powers to compel witnesses and demand evidence. It is still going on.
The infected blood inquiry, looking into blood infected with hepatitis C and HIV given to tens of thousands of people, began in 2019 and a report was published in 2024.
And the COVID inquiry, looking at the government’s actions during the pandemic, started in June 2022 and is ongoing.
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Welcome back to the Politics Hub.
It’s the end of another week in politics – although today’s news is likely to be dominated by the high winds from Storm Eowyn. You can follow updates on that here.
Elsewhere, the government has announced a deal worth £9bn with manufacturer Rolls-Royce that will support Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet.
It is hoped the eight-year deal will create 1,000 jobs, and save £400m over that period.
It comes after one of the UK’s nuclear-powered submarines warned off a Russian spy ship from British waters.
We’ll be speaking to Defence Secretary John Healey just after 7am.
The Politics Hub is signing off for the evening.
It was a busy day in Washington, but Westminster certainly wasn’t without news – with an inquiry announced into the Southport attack, hospital projects delayed, and a damning report into the chancellor’s money-saving efforts.
You can catch up via the bullet points above, and we’ll be back with more updates and analysis tomorrow morning.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp is the latest politician to give his reaction to the Southport killer’s sentence.
In a post on X, he said Southport child killer Axel Rudakubana “should never be released from prison” and called for whole life orders to apply to cases such as his.
Rudakubana was 17 when he carried out the atrocity and anyone under the age of 18 cannot be sentenced to a whole life order.
The shadow home secretary continued: “The inquiry must find out if chances were missed to stop this happening. It must also cover what happened afterwards.”
Law officers have announced they have received a request to consider whether the 52-year minimum term prison sentence given to Axel Rudakubana was too short.
The Attorney General’s office say the case was referred under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
Just one request is needed for a sentence to be considered.
The law officers – Attorney General Lord Hermer and Solicitor General Lucy Rigby – have 28 days to decide whether to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.
There is a high threshold for a successful reference under the scheme – the sentence must be deemed to be not just lenient but unduly so.
Even if the threshold is met, the Court of Appeal may decide to refuse to review the case or uphold the existing sentence.
Southport MP Patrick Hurley has confirmed he submitted the request.
On X, he posted: “I’ve just heard the sentencing of Axel Rudakubana at Liverpool Crown Court.
“In my view, the sentence passed is unduly lenient.
“The crimes he committed were horrific and natural justice demands he spends the rest of his life behind bars.
“I have therefore made a request to the Attorney General to have the sentence reviewed urgently, with a view to making sure he is never released.
“My community deserves nothing less.”
You can watch Sky’s interview with Patrick Hurley on tonight’s Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge from 7pm.
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