Keir Starmer has vowed to “leave no stone unturned” to find out how Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was able to murder three little girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
The prime minister said “the state failed” to protect nine-year-old Alice da Silva Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, on July 29 last year.
At Liverpool Crown Court this morning, Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty to murdering the three youngsters, as well as the attempted murders of eight other children, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, also admitted possessing a knife on the date of the attack, 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. He will be sentenced on Thursday.
It has now emerged that he was referred to the government anti-extremism scheme Prevent three times before the murders, amid concerns over his fixation with violence.
Starmer said: “The news that the vile and sick Southport killer will be convicted is welcome.
“It is also a moment of trauma for the nation and there are grave questions to answer as to how the state failed in its ultimate duty to protect these young girls.
“Britain will rightly demand answers. And we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.
“At the centre of this horrific event, there is still a family and community grief that is raw; a pain that not even justice can ever truly heal.
“Although no words today can ever truly convey the depths of that pain, I want the families to know that our thoughts are with them and everyone in Southport affected by this barbaric crime. The whole nation grieves with them.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for a “complete account of who in government knew what and when” about the case, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage accused the Government of “the most astonishing cover-up”.
The killings last summer shocked the nation and sparked riots across the country.
In the hours after the stabbing, misinformation 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 riots across the country have since been made and hundreds charged and jailed.