Overview

• Nigel Farage has called on Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to apologize for accusing him of spreading 'fake news' following the Southport killings in July 2024.
• The attacker, Axel Rudakubana, was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years in prison after pleading guilty to 16 charges, including two under the Terrorism Act for possessing ricin and an al-Qaeda training manual.
• It has been revealed that Rudakubana was referred to the government’s Prevent anti-extremism program three times, raising questions about missed opportunities to prevent the attack.
• Rayner had dismissed Farage’s early suggestions of a terrorism link, urging politicians to avoid stoking conspiracy theories during a time of heightened community tensions.
• The legal classification of the attack as non-terrorist remains a point of contention, with the judge citing the absence of ideological motivation, despite the attacker’s possession of extremist materials.