Southport murders suspect Axel Rudakubana faces new charges, including one under the Terrorism Act—prompting fresh accusations of a government cover-up. Rudakubana already stands accused of murdering three young girls and attempting to murder ten other people (including eight children) at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport this summer.
The authorities’ refusal to classify the tragic events in Southport as a terror attack—because, they claim, no clear motive has been established—could seem bizarre, but for their consistent track record of dishonesty and defensiveness.
Rudakubana is now alleged to have possessed materials relating to the al-Qaeda Islamist terror group—a PDF entitled Military studies in the jihad against the tyrants: The al-Qaeda training manual, reportedly offering advice on urban warfare and terrorism, as well as what to say if you are arrested.
He has also been charged with the production of ricin, a potentially lethal toxin, contrary to the Biological Weapons Act 1974.
It is highly likely that this evidence was found in searches conducted at the time of Rudakubana’s arrest. The Labour government claims became aware of these new charges “weeks” ago, but says it is “not correct” to say it was involved in withholding facts from the public. It strains credulity to think the government had no information about the evidence whilst it engaged in threats against rioters, condemned online ‘disinformation,’ and so-called far right critics of mass immigration.
At least 378 arrests took place, mostly for public order offences—characterised by railroading people into harsh sentences, designed to ‘set an example.’ However, others were questioned by the police—and often arrested—for posting so-called ‘misinformation’ on social media. From 6 August, charges of “using threatening words or behaviour intending to stir up racial hatred” followed Facebook posts.
Those imprisoned for their social media output included a 28-year-old man from Leeds (20 months), a 53-year-old woman from Cheshire (15 months), a 25-year-old man from Birmingham (two years and four months) in prison, and—most notoriously—Northamptonshire childminder Lucy Connolly (31 months in prison, with 40% to be served, the remainder on licence). Earlier, Tyler Kay from Birmingham (28) got 38 months for sharing Connolly’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Labour prime minister Keir Starmer also considered new social media laws, forcing tech companies to ban ‘fake news,’ which the Telegraph anticipated could see posts being removed—even “if they do not meet the threshold for illegality.”
After Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick argued on Tuesday that “the public had a right to know the truth straight away,” political blog Guido Fawkes revealed that “we were pressured by the authorities to pull our story that the Southport Taylor Swift party child killer was an Al Qaeda manual downloading would-be-terrorist” just days before.
After the horrific July 29th attack, the authorities were slow to reveal details about the teenage suspect, saying first that he was originally from Cardiff in Wales—and later that he was the son of Rwandan migrants—and “has no known links to Islam.” They were, however, quick to note that the attack was “not terror related.” At what point were these statements coinciding with official knowledge of the ricin and al-Qaeda manual?
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage faced a barrage of criticism after he asked “whether the truth is being withheld from us.” One Labour MP pushed for him to be investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner because of what Farage described as “a fair and legitimate question.” In a new post on Tuesday, the Reform leader said: “Perhaps I was right all along.”
Responding to the new charges, journalist—and partner of Reform deputy leader Richard Tice—Isabel Oakeshott fumed that Britain’s leaders were “not just stupid and misguided about almost everything, but now exposed as deeply DUPLICITOUS. Jailing folk for ‘inflammatory’ Tweets while concealing some VERY uncomfortable truths. Unreal.”
Allison Pearson added in the Telegraph:
We don’t know for certain what the motives of the alleged attacker were; they will be determined at the trial. What we do know, from bitter experience, is that any crime which may or may not turn out to have an Islamist or jihadist component is treated with extreme defensiveness and secrecy by the police, government, security services and Left-wing commentators.
Pearson says she would have gone further had it not been for tight reporting restrictions.
In a typically astute post on social media, Spiked Online’s chief political writer Brendan O’Neill also described the charges as “a huge story. It’s monumental.”
It goes without saying that he is innocent until proven guilty. But we need to talk about the demonisation of those who suggested he might be a terrorist. And the criminalisation of those who wondered out loud if this alleged killer might have been motivated by a loathing for the entire British nation.
We must await the jury’s verdict—democratic deliberation must always take its course—but if any of this is even remotely true, then I will hate our elites even more than I already do. I can only imagine how the everyday people who were called racist scum in the wake of this vile act will feel.
Serious questions must now be asked over the state-sanctioned demonisation of Britons accused of posting so-called disinformation online. In contrast, police have still not described the events on July 29th as a terrorist incident because no motive has been established.
Rudakubana appeared at Westminster magistrates court today in relation to the new charges. He remained silent throughout the hearing and was remanded in custody until November 13, when he is due to enter pleas on the murder charges. A trial is scheduled to start on January 20.
