BBC Breakfast’s usual programming on Tuesday (21 January) was paused to deliver a breaking news update.
Viewers saw an urgent banner flash up before Jon Kay and Sally Nugent conducted a live video link interview with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
They pivoted to this crucial segment amid their discussion on the public inquiry into the Southport murders. During the interview, it was announced that Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to speak at 8.30am.
He is scheduled to talk about the Southport tragedy following Axel Rudakubana pleading guilty on Monday (20 January) for the killings of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Alice da Silva Aguiar during a dance class held on 29 July 2024, reports the Express.
He admitted 16 charges, including the attempted murders of eight children and two adults, possession of a knife on the day of the murders, producing a biological toxin, ricin, and the possession of an al-Qaeda training manual.
On Tuesday, the Shadow Home Secretary discussed the investigation on BBC Breakfast, coinciding with another breaking news banner, which appeared on the screen.
In his analysis of the situation, he highlighted: “The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall Casey, raised concerns, I think, last October about the fact that more information should be put into the public domain to make sure there isn’t – as he put it – an information void.
“We obviously saw those terrible and completely unacceptable riots after the appalling murders, and I would like to see this inquiry also look at whether the government and police in CPS should have put a bit more information into public the domain, as Jonathan Hall has suggested they ought to.”
Sally then asked Chris if he thought he and his Government colleagues might be “having to take a share of the blame” for what happened.
In response to her question, the Shadow Home Secretary commented: “I’m not going to speculate about what this inquiry is going to find. That’s the whole point of an inquiry, to find out exactly what happens.
“So, let’s just let the inquiry do its work. I strongly support establishing the inquiry and as I say, if there are recommendations that it makes to keep people safe, then I’m sure parliamentarians across the whole spectrum would support those recommendations.”
BBC Breakfast airs daily at 6am on BBC One.