Sir Keir Starmer has addressed the nation from Downing Street after the government announced a public inquiry into the Southport attack. The home secretary outlined more details in the Commons – and also hit out at the role of online platforms in how the killer was radicalised.
Tuesday 21 January 2025 19:58, UK
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The Southport attack has been back in the news this week after the killer’s surprise guilty pleas yesterday.
It’s allowed the government to dig into the details in public, and outline steps being taken to avoid such future tragedies.
Here are the main things you need to know:
Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge is live from 7pm.
Joining us to discuss the Southport case is security minister Dan Jarvis.
On our panel are Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell and Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy.
Stay with us in the meantime for more updates and analysis.
Join us again at 7pm tomorrow for another summary of the day’s politics from Westminster.
By Paul Kelso, business and economics correspondent, in Davos
Donald Trump likes to discomfort his enemies.
Not to mention his friends, his partners, business adversaries, celebrity critics, anyone, in fact, who could end up on the other side of a deal.
As president of the world’s largest economy, that makes for a long list, many of them in Davos on Tuesday trying to make sense of what his second term will mean, and not getting very far.
The World Economic Forum is a body that likes to think it has the answers. The annual conference attracts leaders from business, politics and civil society, gathering to share their wisdom and cut deals on the side.
Less than 48 hours into Trump II not only are they struggling for answers, they’re yet not clear what the question is.
For European political leaders, already exposed to soaring US growth rates, Trump’s still-vague threats to “tax and tariff” could pose a fundamental threat to economic cooperation and stability.
In the absence of firm policy, they promised to work with Trump, but not at all costs.
Discussing the Southport stabbings and the public response to them, security minister Dan Jarvis says tells Sophy that more needs to be done to get the correct information in to the public domain.
As mentioned in the previous post, Mr Jarvis denied there was a cover up and said the government wanted to be careful about what it put in the public domain.
Asked if more could have been done to get the “correct information” out there, Mr Jarvis says “absolutely”.
The minister says there “does need to be a mechanism whereby more information could be put into the public domain”.
He added that the government is working with the attorney general on what could be done should a similar situation occur in the future.
Security minister Dan Jarvis has been speaking to Sophy tonight.
While discussing the Southport attacks and the response to them, the Labour frontbencher says he understands why people are angry about what happened, but the government had to be careful about what it could say at the time.
He goes on to say it was “quite irresponsible that some people chose to play politics” with the situation.
Mr Jarvis declines to give any names of who he means, however prominent politicians like Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick have both accused the government of a “cover up”.
He said these people knew the government “wasn’t able to give a running commentary” because they did not want to endanger any future trial.
The minister says it is “simply untrue” that there was any cover up.
Three little girls. At a Taylor Swift dance class. Stabbed to death.
What happened to them is simply unbearable. It’s too awful to comprehend.
It’s the kind of crime that makes you question the world. How can that happen? How can another human being do that to those three little girls? Are they human? How can they be?
Today we are learning more about the man who did it. Axel Rudakubana.
And we’re also learning that this could have been prevented.
There were calls to police. The school flagged his behaviour. He was referred to Prevent three times, and they decided against intervention, Prevent, the guys whose job it is to stop terrorism.
This is not one of those cases where everyone is really shocked and can’t believe this person could have done this.
There were multiple red flags. Multiple reports. Multiple agencies involved who can all pass the buck onto someone else.
In other words… there were multiple chances of stopping this attack from happening. And that just breaks your heart.
Andy Haldane is a former chief economist at the Bank of England, and now chief executive of the Royal Society for Arts.
He has been speaking to Sophy about the Southport attacks and the reaction to them.
Asked if there was justified anger towards the “establishment” in response to the attack as well as to grooming gangs, Mr Haldane says “yes”.
He adds: “I think it’s, to a degree, justified because there has been a degree of wilful blindness, Sophy, to some of those simmering tensions for a long time.”
Mr Haldane explains that it has been “difficult to question the cause of multiculturalism without being accused of somehow being racist or xenophobic”.
He says that, while multicultural communities “bring great richness of ideas and cultures and practises”, there needs to be investment in “cohesion”.
If not, the former economist claims it can lead to events like what happened in Southport and elsewhere – referring to the riots last summer.
Mr Haldane then calls for greater investment in areas that “suffer most from underinvestment”, saying they need things like parks, youth clubs, community centres, theatres, museums and high streets.
Our weeknight politics show Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge is live.
Tonight’s programme features an interview with security minister Dan Jarvis.
And the panel is made up of Baroness Helena Kennedy, a Labour peer and human rights barrister; and Andrew Mitchell, shadow foreign secretary.
Watch in the stream below or at the top of this page.
The government is to shortly announce the departure of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority chairman, Sky News understands.
Marcus Bokkerink will depart the role as ministers make changes to pursue economic growth.
A government source told Sky News: “This is a signal that we’re serious about changing the culture of regulation in order to get growth.
“The government wants to show it serious about investment.”
The removal of the CMA chief came as Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who took the decision, arrived in Davos to court overseas investors at the annual World Economic Forum.
Controversial plans to expand Heathrow, Luton and Gatwick airports are expected to be announced as the government attempts to boost the economy.
Ministers are set to approve a third runway at Heathrow, according to Bloomberg – a plan that has long been delayed over environmental concerns.
A second strip for Gatwick is also expected to be brought into full-time use, along with plans to increase the capacity at Luton.
‘We are determined to get our economy moving’
Sources told the news outlet that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering making some or all of the announcements in a speech about growth later this month.
Other projects that could be given government sign-off are the Lower Thames Crossing, a long-delayed road project connecting Kent and Essex, and a Universal Studios theme park in Bedfordshire, they said.
A government spokesman said: “We are determined to get our economy moving and secure the long-term future of the UK’s aviation sector.
“All expansion proposals must demonstrate they contribute to economic growth, which is central to our plan for change, while remaining in line with existing environmental obligations.”
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