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Coffee House Shots

Why wasn’t the Southport killer stopped?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At a press conference this morning, Keir Starmer moved quickly to announce a public inquiry into the Southport murders. This comes after Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to murdering three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift–themed dance class last year. The Prime Minister promised that ‘no stone’ will be ‘left unturned’ when it comes to asking the ‘difficult questions… unburdened by cultural or institutional sensitivities’.

Chief among these difficult questions is why – when Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-extremism Prevent programme three times – he wasn’t stopped? And is there any substance to claims by Nigel Farage of a ‘cover-up’?

Katy Balls speaks to James Heale and Danny Shaw, former adviser to Yvette Cooper.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Photo: Merseyside Police

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

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0:22.3

Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots.

0:24.1

I'm James Heel and I'm joined today by the spectator's political editor Katie Balls,

0:27.8

former journalist and Yvette Cooper, advisor, Danny Shaw.

0:30.7

Now yesterday, Axel Ruder Cabana pleaded guilty to the charge of murdering three girls in a knife attack

0:35.3

at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport

0:37.5

last year. This morning, the Prime Minister gave a press conference in response to that.

0:41.2

We must make sure the names of those three young girls are not associated with the vile perpetrator,

0:48.4

but instead with a fundamental change in how Britain protects its citizens and its children. In pursuit of that,

0:58.4

we must, of course, ask and answer difficult questions, questions that should be far-reaching,

1:06.7

unburdened by cultural or institutional sensitivities.

1:12.0

Katie, what were the top lines from it?

1:13.7

So I think if you go back to Monday when, of course, the guilty plea came in,

1:17.6

there was an announcement in the evening by Yvette Cooper,

1:20.9

which is there will be a public inquiry into the Southport murders,

1:25.0

how it came to pass, failures by the system.

1:30.9

And also you had Kirstama put out a statement where he described the perpetrator as vile. And it was a very strong language. And I think,

1:35.3

obviously, the context of this is when you had the Southport murders over the summer,

1:39.5

they were quickly accompanied by the riots, summons side were all around various parts of the UK.

1:46.7

And at the time, Kirstama was talking a lot about far right thuggery

1:50.6

when it came to the rioters.

1:52.2

But there were talk, can you see it from Nigel Farage today and others of a cover-up?

...

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