Keir Starmer has denied engaging in a cover-up to prevent the public knowing about Southport killer Axel Rudakubana’s background in the aftermath of his murderous rampage.
The prime minister insisted he was following “the law of the land” to avoid the possibility of the case against the 18-year-old collapsing and him then being able to walk free.
Rudakubana yesterday pleaded guilty to murdering nine-year-old Alice da Silva Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 last year.
He also admitted the production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
It has since emerged that the killer was referred three times to the government’s Prevent anti-terrorism programme, but remained at large.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has announced that a public inquiry will take place into the tragedy.
Senior politicians, including Nigel Farage and shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, have suggested ministers withheld information about Rudakubana so as to protect the reputation of senior figures and avoid a public backlash.
At a Downing Street press conference this morning, Starmer admitted that he had been told about the details about Rudakubana that were not made public.
But he said: “You know and I know that it would not have been right to disclose those details. The only losers if the details had been disclosed would be the victims and the families because it ran the risk the trial would collapse.
“I’m never going to do that. Never going to do that because they deserve that justice.
“And only by having the rules in place can that justice be delivered and I would never have been forgiven if they had. Those are not just my choices, though it is a choice I would make, but it is also the law of the land.
“That is why I couldn’t disclose the details, it is why others couldn’t disclose the details, it’s why all of you as journalists couldn’t disclose the details because the same laws applied to you just as they applied to me, and it’s really important that we make that clear.”
He added: “The importance of the rule about not disclosing this information is to ensure that the trial can take place and that where an individual is guilty they can be held to account, as has happened in this case.”
However, the PM also pledged to identify any failings by the state over the Southport killings.
He said: “I am also under no illusions that until the wider state shows the country it can change not just what it delivers for people, but also its culture, then this atmosphere of mistrust will remain.
“So I want to be crystal clear, in front of the British people today - we will leave no stone unturned.
“I was the prosecutor who first spotted failures in grooming cases at my institution the [Crown Prosecution Service] 14 years ago. And I was the prosecutor who first did something about it, by bringing the rape gangs in Rochdale to justice.
“And so my approach as prime minister will be no different. If any shortcomings are now holding back the ability of this country to keep its citizens and its children safe, I will find them and I will root them out.”
But Farage later said “cover up Keir is convincing no one”.
In a post on X, the Reform UK leader said: “The prime minister is once again 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.”