Rachel Reeves says ‘no stone should be left unturned’ in Southport inquiry
Rachel Reeves has said “no stone should be left unturned” in the Southport inquiry to stop anything so “appalling” happening again.
The chancellor told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips the inquiry announced this week into how Axel Rudakubana was able to murder three young girls and injure 10 others last summer was “essential”.
“It is absolutely essential we learn lessons, not just to provide understanding for the families but to stop anything like this happening ever again,” she said.
“No stone should be left unturned.”
Rudakubana was jailed for life with a minimum of 52 years on Thursday after unexpectedly pleading guilty to murder on what was meant to be the first day of his trial.
He had been referred to the Prevent anti-terror programme three times, admitted to carrying a knife into school multiple times and attacked a boy at school with a hockey stick.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were murdered in the attack
Ms Reeves added: “It’s appalling what happened in Southport and the evil, cowardly acts of that man.
“The impact will be felt forever by those families. And it’s right that there’s now a public inquiry to establish what on earth went wrong, that the man was referred three times to Prevent, he had been found carrying a knife on multiple occasions and he’d attacked a boy he was at school with.
“And yet he was able to slip through the system.”
She said she thinks the inquiry needs to establish what Prevent regards as terror because Rudakubana had no apparent ideology, which is why he was taken off Prevent’s list.
“Just because you don’t have an ideological motive doesn’t mean that you can’t be a mass killer and incredibly dangerous,” the chancellor added.
Read more:
The 14 minutes of terror that left three children dead
Axel Rudakubana. Pic: Merseyside police
Ms Reeves defended Sir Keir Starmer and other ministers for not revealing Rudakubana’s past last summer when the attack happened.
“I think it’s really important that when a government speaks, when ministers speak about something before there’s been a trial, that people are very careful about the words that they use,” she said.
“Because if a government of any colour added anything to prejudice a trial, then that minister would never be forgiven. And so ministers do have to use words with caution.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who has two daughters a similar age to the three girls killed, welcomed the Southport inquiry and said the incident was “horrific”.
She told Trevor Phillips it was “extremely surprising that so many state bodies were involved at one point”.
“Why is it that despite all of these schemes and all of these programmes that we put in place, previous governments, successive previous governments of all parties, certain people still slipped through the cracks?” she said.
Kemi Badenoch has two daughters a similar age to the three girls killed
The Tory leader added she thinks the government needs to look at the “roots of where these behaviours come from, whether it is extremist ideology of whatever flavour, whether it’s religious or related to hate of a particular group or sex”.
“We need to start looking more at how we bring more people into society, integrate them across a whole range of issues,” she added.
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
Read more:
Girl who had leg amputated suffered harm during surgeon’s care
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Hospital accused of ‘covering up’ concerns about suspended surgeon
Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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