NewsBeat
Britain facing new terror threat from generation of ‘young men in their bedrooms’, Starmer warns
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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 capture 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 for the murder of three children in a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, 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.”
He also promised to review the UK’s counter-extremism 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 on Monday, having denied the charges last year. But he dramatically changed his plea on the first day of the trial.
Six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe were killed in 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 “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 incident.
Despite 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 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 the 18-year-old 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 No10 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.”
An SAS veteran has hit out at Labour’s decision to hit grieving families of military workers with inheritance tax from April 2027.
The money given to families of deceased Armed Forces members, called death in service payments, may be subject to a hefty cut after Labour MPs voted in favour of a raid.
Shocking video footage has been released by police of a car being driven at speeds up to 90mph before causing a three-vehicle crash killing a lorry driver.
It’s been three days since President Donald Trump took office. And he has come out swinging.
On the 2024 campaign trail, he promised to bring rapid and sweeping change to American government and society if he were re-elected.
Some of his policies and reforms will take time – and congressional legislation – to enact. Other moves might be blocked by the courts.
In the first days of his presidency, however, Trump has already made waves with dozens of unilateral orders and actions that represent a substantial expansion of White House power.
For many of his supporters – so far – it looks like he has delivered on his promises.
“He signed all the executive orders that he told us he was going to do,” said 68-year-old Rick Frazier, a loyal Trump supporter from Ohio who has attended more than 80 of his rallies. “I’m satisfied with all that.”
That has been cause for concern among some. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, publicly asked Trump during a prayer service on Tuesday at the National Cathedral, to “have mercy upon people in our country who are scared now”.
Nowhere has this display of presidential authority been more prominent than on the topic of immigration, which polls suggest was a significant concern for many voters.
Just hours after taking office, Trump declared an emergency at the US-Mexico border, allowing him to deploy more US military personnel to the area.
He effectively closed the country to all new asylum-seekers and suspended already approved resettlement flights for refugees.
Mr Frazier’s daughter died of a heroin overdose last year. He told the BBC that the southern border was his top issue in the 2024 election.
“In my opinion had the border been closed, my daughter would not have had access to the compound that killed her,” he said.
Trump has also ordered authorities to stop granting automatic citizenship to the children of undocumented migrants born on American soil – setting up a lengthy legal battle over what had previously been viewed by courts as a constitutional guarantee.
One step that Trump repeatedly promised – but has yet to show signs of implementing – is mass deportations of migrants who crossed illegally into the US, something he said would start on day one of his presidency.
While some Trump officials have said the deportation process has begun, there have been no signs yet of the kind of law-enforcement raids or other expansive actions that would be necessary to detain and remove the millions of undocumented migrants who currently reside in the US.
Bryan Lanza, who previously served as a senior adviser to Trump, told the BBC’s Americast podcast that the total number of deportations is less important than the message it sends.
“It’s never about a number,” he said. “It’s more about the PR.”
If you deport a million undocumented migrants, he said, than the rest will start wondering if they’re next – and take steps to return to their home countries.
“Illegals aren’t welcomed here,” he said. “Every other country is allowed to say that. Why shouldn’t we?”
Immigration was a major issue that helped propel Trump to the White House, but in terms of voter concerns it was still dwarfed by worries about the economy and inflation.
So far the president has focused on energy policy – tying it directly to the high prices that millions of Americans have struggled with.
“When energy comes down, the prices of food and the prices of everything else come down,” Trump said on Tuesday evening. “Energy is the big baby.”
To that end, Trump declared a “national energy emergency” and rescinded Biden-era protections for fossil fuel extraction in Alaska and in American coastal waters. He also started the process of withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement, which commits nations to slashing emissions to try to avoid the most extreme effects of climate change.
Even optimistic estimates suggest these moves will take time to show any results, but Aziz Wehbey, a Syrian-American Republican voter in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said he was pleased by what he had seen so far.
“That’s a good sign for the economy, and for those of us who run businesses,” he said. “The economy is starting to move and not be frozen. Everyone will notice that.”
One topic that Trump has mentioned, but hasn’t acted on yet, is tariffs. He had pledged to slap them on some of America’s biggest trade partners on day one to protect American industries and generate new revenue to fund his favoured government programmes.
Economists, including some in the Trump administration, have cautioned that tariffs could drive up consumer costs and hurt American businesses that rely on imports in their supply chain. It could be a reason why Trump, with his eye on the stock market and economic growth, is treading more carefully when it comes to trade.
Many of President Trump’s other early executive actions focused on reshaping the vast federal workforce.
He has reinstated rules that allow him to fire senior-level civil servants, suspended new regulations and hiring, and ordered all federal employees involved in DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – programmes to be put on paid leave.
He also renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and instructed the US government to only recognise two sexes, male and female, in all official documents and forms. The changes, while controversial, have also been extremely popular with Trump’s base – a sign that the president will continue to lean in to contentious cultural issues.
Trump’s second term is just getting started. He promises more significant presidential actions in the days ahead – moves that will almost certainly test the limits of presidential power.
But the big splash, the noise, the drama, says former adviser Lanza, isn’t a problem for the president. It’s his strength.
“Where we are in modern politics today, which people haven’t figured out, is that from our standpoint, to communicate to voters are supportive of our issues, controversy enhances the message,” he said.
How do you get your message heard amid the overwhelming din of modern politics?
“It’s the controversy.”
Understand that, and the strategy behind Trump’s frenetic first days in office begins to come into focus.
With additional reporting from Bernd Debusmann Jr and Madeline Halpert
South Korea will remove concrete barriers used at airports across the country after a plane crash in December that claimed the lives of 179 people.
Politics
Kemi Badenoch ‘wastes PMQs AGAIN’ after failing to quiz Starmer over Axel Rudakubana murders
Kemi Badenoch has seemingly missed an opportunity to grill Sir Keir Starmer on the failings surrounding Axel Rudakubana’s horrific killings last summer.
The Prime Minister, who vowed not to leave a stone unturned in an inquiry into the Southport murders, might have expected Badenoch to take aim over a number of issues raised by other Conservative colleagues, including Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick.
But speaking in the House of Commons, Badenoch said: “I also know that the thoughts of many will be with the victims of the Southport killings.
“There are important questions to answer and I will return to those after the case is concluded.”
Badenoch missed an opportunity to grill Starmer on the failings surrounding Axel Rudakubana’s horrific killings last summer
PARLIAMENTLIVE.TV
Badenoch continued by instead opting to quiz Starmer on Labour’s education reforms.
Ahead of the Leader of the Opposition’s first intervention, the Prime Minister also addressed the Southport killings.
He said: “We will change the law so that the most serious offenders attend their sentencing hearings.”
In response to the exchange, Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice argued it was “unreal” that Badenoch had not probed Starmer on a topic other than education.
MORE ON KEMI BADENOCH:
Starmer was pressed on Labour’s education reforms rather than the atrocities in Southport
PARLIAMENTLIVE.TV
He said: “Kemi wastes PMQs again. Should have led on Trump and shocking debt figures to challenge Starmer.”
While leader Nigel Farage prodded: “Not a single question on Southport from Kemi Badenoch at PMQs today.
“What is the point of the Tories?”
A friend of Badenoch later told GB News’ Political Editor Christopher Hope that she raised the economy last week and acknowledged the Southport killer at the top of her contribution to PMQs.
Richard Tice warned that Kemi Badenoch had ‘wasted PMQs again’
PA
While another said there was “genuine anger” from Kemi and the wider party at what Labour is “doing to schools”.
“They’ve put some important stuff on safeguarding in the bill, but the bulk of it is reversing schools freedoms – rolling back academies, giving unions more control over who can be a teacher and reducing curriculum choice.”
Another Badenoch ally came to her defence after PMQs – Tory leadership runner-up Robert Jenrick, who said Sir Keir Starmer “had no answer” to the Leader of the Opposition’s questions – “because there are none”.
From the sampled vocals of Mel & Kim to the instantly memorable lyrics of Rick Astley’s biggest hits, Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s songs ruled the UK charts in the late 1980s.
NewsBeat
Axel Rudakubana’s neighbours sell homes and tell of horror at living next to Southport murderer: latest
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Axel Rudakubana’s neighbours have been selling their homes and telling of their horror at living next to the Southport murderer.
Residents of the quiet cul-de-sac of new build homes where Rudakubana lived with his family in Banks, Lancashire, have been left reeling, with at least one property put on the market in the wake of the attack, local Paul Jones, 66, told The Independent.
Owen Aimson, 21, said: “It’s crazy to know I have lived with him four doors down from me for a few years.”
Rudakubana, 18, on Monday admitted murdering three girls aged between six and nine in his frenzied knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Merseyside last year.
Since then, The Community Church, which his father attended, revealed the killer’s family have been moved to a secret location for their protection.
Sir Keir Starmer warned that those responsible for failures that enabled the “senseless, barbaric” murders would not be allowed “to deflect from their failures” after he announced a public inquiry this week.
The prime minister also reiterated his pledge to take action against the “unacceptable” online sale of “murder weapons” in efforts to tackle knife crime after it emerged that Rudakubana used a knife bought from Amazon in his attack.
Knife sales crackdown divides commentators
Government critics say Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to crack down on online knife sales is missing the point, many pointing to the failure of authorities to stop Southport killer Axel Rudakubana.
Reform leader Nigel Farage claimed: “The truth is there are murder weapons in every kitchen drawer. What we should be talking about is the total failure to stop this terrorist & the cover-up of information.”
But his former Ukip colleague Henry Bolton called for a ban on knives openly sold as “fashion accessories”.
Jane Dalton22 January 2025 16:40
Charities call for knife sales crackdown
Knife crime charities have demanded stricter regulation of online marketplaces, because “careless” retailers are making it too easy for young people to buy knives.
Patrick Green, chief executive of knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust, said the tragedy in Southport showed “how careless the online marketplaces are”.
He added that the ease of online sales is “a damning indictment”, saying: “Retailers are just completely focused on making money and not protecting the public. The law has proved inadequate.
“We need to close the loophole that exists around online marketplaces.
“This isn’t an isolated incident. There have been a number of incidents like this.”
Bruce Houlder, founder of Fighting Knife Crime London, told the PA News Agency that knife crime was “more worrying than ever”.
He said: “I think there should be much tougher legislation. It’s foreseeable that these knives are going to be used to cause injury.”
Mr Houlder added there is “insufficient being done” to stop online retailers selling knives, calling them “complicit in the crimes that eventually get committed”.
Jane Dalton22 January 2025 15:40
No 10 could replicate porn access curbs for knife sales
Downing Street has indicated “nothing is off the table” to protect children when asked what actions would be taken to enforce Sir Keir Starmer’s promise of tougher rules on online knife sales.
The prime minister’s official spokesman was asked whether the government was happy to see how the Online Safety Act beds in before considering any further legislation.
He replied: “We have worked at pace to implement the Online Safety Act. Our message remains as the home secretary and technology secretary said yesterday. The social media companies should take action now. There is no need to wait for laws to kick in and the prospect of significant penalties.
“More broadly, we have been clear that nothing is off the table with keeping our children and communities safe.”
Asked whether measures aimed at verifying the age of children trying to access pornography could be replicated for knife sales, the spokesman said: “We are obviously looking at these plans and we will update urgently on how we will deliver on these plans in due course.”
Jane Dalton22 January 2025 15:10
Axel Rudakubana’s neighbours want to move after learning of horrors carried out by Southport murderer
Horrified neighbours in quiet cul-de-sac of new build homes where Axel Rudakubana lived with his family in Banks, Lancashire, have been left reeling after learning the horrors that he perpetrated.
Local councillor John Howard said some people want to move away after angry troublemakers threatened to target properties in the aftermath of the attack.
At least one home has been put on the market in the wake of the tragedy, resident Paul Jones, 66, told The Independent.
It is not known what will happen to the Rudakubana’s three-bedroom semi-detached home, which has lain empty since the family were taken into hiding.
Owen Aimson, 21, said most residents had never even laid eyes on the reclusive teenager, who made the biological toxin ricin in his bedroom, until CCTV emerged of him walking down the road on the day of the attack.
But he recalls seeing a police car outside the home on multiple occasions. Following Rudakubana’s conviction on Monday, police confirmed five calls to were made to the force from the address between 2019 and 2022 relating to concerns about the teen’s behaviour.
“Once in a blue moon I would get home at 10 or 11pm at night and there would be a police car outside his house,” he said. “No commotion or anything, just a police car so they were in the house. No one knew why.
“It’s crazy to know I have lived with him four doors down from me for a few years.”
Tara Cobham22 January 2025 13:29
Starmer reiterates pledge to take action against ‘unacceptable’ online sale of ‘murder weapons’
Sir Keir Starmer has reiterated his pledge to take action against the “unacceptable” sale of “murder weapons” in ongoing efforts to tackle knife crime.
The prime minister told the Commons during PMQs that the government is committed to regulating the online sale of knives.
He said: “It is unacceptable that these murder weapons can be bought with two clicks. The technology is there to stop it and we’re going to take action.”
Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana used a knife bought from Amazon to kill three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, in July.
Tara Cobham22 January 2025 12:39
Closing all of Parliament’s bars could lead to greater security risks for MPs, the leader of the House of Commons has suggested.
Lucy Powell said she was open to “having a debate” on the future of drinking venues on the Parliamentary estate after one bar was temporarily closed for a security review linked to an alleged drink-spiking incident.
But she argued that MPs and staff would visit venues outside Parliament’s secure zone if bars, restaurants, hair salons and other facilities were shut down.
She told BBC Radio 5Live’s Matt Chorley said “there is no point spending the millions of pounds” on security if staff were encouraged to leave the estate.
Parliament’s most famous pub, the Strangers’ Bar, is currently shut while police investigate a report a woman had her drink spiked on 7 January.
Powell said she was in favour of reopening Strangers following a review of its security arrangements.
“We definitely need to look at this and make sure we have the measures in place so that people are not in the situation where they think they have been spiked or showing the effects of being spiked,” Powell said.
She said she was open to having a public debate “on whether there should be any bars on the estate at all”.
But not all of the sprawling eight-acre (32,000 sq-m) Palace of Westminster is a workplace, she told Matt Chorley, and there were several venues serving alcohol for MPs and their guests.
She said she did not “get the sense that there’s a groundswell” of support for closing these down.
In the evening members of staff and others who “might want a drink” are “not at work at that point,” she argued.
She said they would MPs be less well protected attending venues “where they have not got the security protection”, she added.
“They have not got police around” and would also not be covered by the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) – which investigates allegations of sexual misconduct and bullying by parliamentary staff.
The ICGS has previously argued parliament’s bars and associated culture of drinking fuels inappropriate behaviour in Westminster.
Parliament had increased security “with good reason” because “there are a lot of people trying to attack MPs and attack Parliament” she said.
“That is why we provide services on the estate.
“There is no point spending the millions of pounds we spend keeping everyone secure and on this estate – if we then actually just encourage people to pop off to go and get their hair cut or have lunch with a journalist off the estate.”
Politics
Number of Britons who believe migration is too high reaches greatest level on record as Starmer told to ‘get a grip’ on crisis
The amount of Britons who think migration to the UK is too high has reached record levels, a damning new poll has found.
Analysis by pollsters at YouGov has revealed that 71 per cent of Britons now think too many people are arriving in the UK – the highest percentage since its records began in July 2019.
The data also shows that 63 per cent of Labour voters now think immigration is too high – also the largest percentage on record.
And voters for Sir Keir Starmer’s party appear not to be alone. The groups which have voiced fears at record levels include 25-64-year-olds, men, women, Conservative voters, Remain voters, and Britons from every region of the UK except Scotland and the North of England – which still poll at 68 and 69 per cent, respectively.
71 per cent of Britons now believe immigration is too high
YOUGOV
The only group which didn’t show majority support for the view that migration is too high was 18-24-year-olds, at 44 per cent.
The data has sparked calls for Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to act – led by Migration Watch UK chairman Alp Mehmet.
He told GB News: “Public concern about immigration is longstanding, and has now reverted to the levels we saw before the electorate were fooled into believing it was going to be controlled and reduced.
“We warned that was never going to happen with the ridiculously lax immigration system introduced after Brexit.
MORE ON BRITAIN’S MIGRATION CHAOS:
‘Sir Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper would do well to regard this poll as another red flag and get a grip,’ Alp Mehmet warned
PA
“We also warned that failure to control immigration and reduce immigration would further erode trust in politicians and our political system.
“It gives me no satisfaction to say we were right.
“Sir Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper would do well to regard this poll as another red flag and get a grip of both legal and illegal immigration.”
Migration under the former Conservative Government has been the subject of attacks from Starmer himself – he has accused the Tories of running “a one-nation experiment in open borders” and has claimed cutting migration “will only be done with a serious plan”.
Migration under the former Conservative Government has been the subject of attacks from Starmer himself
PA
Setting out his five ‘milestones’ in Labour’s “Plan for Change” at the end of November, Starmer warned: “This happened by design, not accident.
“Policies were reformed deliberately to liberalise immigration.
“Brexit was used for that purpose… to turn Britain into a one-nation experiment in open borders. Global Britain – remember that slogan… That is what they meant.”
While the Home Office’s line is the same – Seema Malhotra, Minister for Migration and Citizenship, said: “Net migration quadrupled in the past five years and we have been clear that we will get the numbers down and restore order to our broken immigration system as part of our Plan for Change.”
A series of videos show the moment a car carrying a family in the occupied West Bank came under attack during an Israeli raid into the city of Jenin yesterday.
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