Southport MP calls for ‘harsher’ Axel Rudakubana sentence

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned Rudakubana’s attack as “horrendous, cowardly, and evil” and said the government had pledged to hold a national inquiry.

“We have vowed to get the answers the country deserves about how this horror was allowed to happen and to ensure that lessons are learned,” she said.

Further details would be set out soon, she said, but added “for today, all our thoughts are with the families enduring this unimaginable pain, and the example of strength and courage they have provided to us all”.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp backed the inquiry, but accused the government of overseeing an information vacuum after Rudakubana’s arrest, which sparked a wave of riots across the UK last summer.

Philp is one of many critics that have accused the CPS and government of withholding key details after the attack, such as Rudakubana’s three referrals to anti-extremism programme Prevent, his creation of enough ricin to kill 12,000 people and the extent of his fixation on violence and genocide.

Posting on social media, Philp said: “The prime minister and CPS could have been more open with the public. This would have avoided misinformation filling the void, and fuelling the riots.

“The inquiry must address this issue too.”