Urgent change for teachers demanded in disturbing Southport attacks report

Security services must work more closely with tech firms to spot would-be terrorists faster, a crucial extremism report has found.

And frontline workers like teachers must get better training to spot dangerous extremists if lessons are to be learned from the Southport murders and the killing of Tory MP Sir David Amess, it said. Lord David Anderson said improvements must be made to the Prevent programme to help prevent similar tragedies.

Both Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three young girls at a dance class in Southport, and Mr Amess's killer Ali Harbi Ali had previously been referred to the programme. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government would "immediately act" on the findings.

Lord Anderson, the UK's Interim Independent Prevent Commissioner, concluded that several failures happened before Ali went on to kill in 2021. These included poor communication and lack of proper six-month reviews.

And referring to the failure to escalate Rudakubana's case, he wrote: "It is hard to see how the test of ‘reasonable grounds to believe that there are no Prevent concerns’ could have been satisfied on the known facts of the case’."

He called for urgent steps to make sure worrying online activity is better used to identify and investigate potential terrorists. And he said frontline public sector workers should be clear that those who show a fascination with "extreme violence or mass casualty attacks" must be referred to Prevent.

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The Commissioner upheld the findings of learning reviews into the two attacks, which found opportunities were missed to stop both Ali and Rudakubana.

Lord Anderson said both had been referred to Prevent by their schools, but the programme "failed to provide what might have helped them". And he urged the Government to work with tech firms and social networks to strenghten methods of flagging dangerous fanatics.

He wrote: "Whether different decisions might have spared their victims will never be known: both attacks came years later, and many imponderables intervened. But wrong decisions were taken; more should have been done; and from these failures, lessons must continue to be learned’"

Rudakabana's trial heard he was not treated as a terrorist because there was no clear extremist ideology. This was despite him being fascinated with the Manchester Arena attack and an Al-Qaeda training manual being found at his home.

Lord Anderson said Prevent must remain open to those who become obsessed with extreme violence, even if they do not have a clear ideology. He also called for a new task force to look into linking Prevent with a broader safeguarding and violence prevention programme.

And the Commissioner said training for frontline workers must be rolled out for the end of the year.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government must look at how Prevent works "to stop further missed opportunities". She said progress has been made on a string of measures she announced back in December.

These include a review into the way the programme treats people with severe mental health problems and provide improved support for those who do not qualify for Prevent intervention. Ms Cooper said: "Prevent training is being rolled out at pace to educate frontline professionals about the ideologies, such as Islamist extremism, that drive terrorism."

In a statement to MPs, the Home Secretary said: "My department remains steadfast in its commitment to keeping the public safe and safeguarding people at risk of radicalisation.

"The victims, their families and those who survived the Southport attack but continue to live with the physical and emotional pain, and Sir David Amess’s family remain in our hearts and prayers."

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