A top Tory conservative suggested Tuesday that the U.K. Labor government lied about a suspected killer’s Islamist ties.
Conservative MP Robert Jenrick, a Tory leadership hopeful, said the government’s handling of an investigation into a July mass knife attack is raising doubts about whether “we are being told the truth about crime in our country.”
“Of course, the legal process needs to be respected, but I’m seriously concerned that the facts may have been withheld from the public here,” Jenrick said in a video posted to his social media. “The government and authorities told us for months that they were not treating this as a terrorist incident. But today, the attacker has been charged with terrorist offenses and it has been revealed that he has been allegedly reading terrorist manuals.”
On July 29, a man armed with a knife attacked children and others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, killing three children ages six, seven, and nine. Six other girls and two adults were injured.
Authorities arrested 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana, the son of Rwandan parents, and charged him in the attack. Prosecutors leveled additional counts against Rudakubana on Wednesday of production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. The illicit information came in the form of an Al-Qaeda training manual.
The additional charges have ignited an uproar after police and government officials spent months denying evidence of links to terrorism in the case.
“The public had the right to know the truth right away. Any suggestion of a cover up will permanently damage trust in whether we are being told the truth about crime in our country,” Jenrick said. “[Prime Minister] Keir Starmer must urgently explain to the country what he knew about the Southport attack and when he learnt it.”
“Across the board, the hard reality of mass migration is being covered up. The public can see with their own eyes that they are being gas lit by the liberal elite,” he added.
The public had a right to know the truth straight away.
I am seriously concerned that facts may have been withheld from the public.
Keir Starmer must urgently explain what he knew about the Southport attack and when he learned it. pic.twitter.com/Kg45OrwryQ
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) October 29, 2024
After the July 29 attack, protests and riots erupted across the U.K. as calls were made to demonstrate over immigration and the threat of radical Islam. The chaos resulted in hundreds of arrests as officials warned against speculating on the motive for the attack. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper promised to arrest “racist thugs” and threatened those who “whipped them up on social media and in online chat forums.”
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Starmer warned social media companies about moderating the content on their platforms.
“Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them. Violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime. It is happening on your premises. The law must be upheld everywhere,” he said.
Law enforcement have repeatedly denied that the case against Rudakubana is being treated as a terrorism case. Despite the terrorism charge now leveled against Rudakubana, authorities still deny terrorism as a motive for his alleged attack.
“At this time, Counter Terrorism Policing has not declared the attack on Monday 29 July a terrorist incident,” Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said in a statement announcing the latest charges in the case. “I recognise that the new charges may lead to speculation. The matter for which Axel Rudakubana has been charged with under the Terrorism Act does not require motive to be established. For a matter to be declared a terrorist incident, motivation would need to be established.”
“We would strongly advise caution against anyone speculating as to motivation in this case,” Kennedy said. “The criminal proceedings against Axel Rudakubana are live and he has a right to a fair trial.”
