BRITAIN'S 'NEW THREAT FROM VIOLENT ONLINE 'MISFITS'

BRITAIN faces a "new threat" of terrorism and extreme violence from "loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms", Sir Keir Starmer has warned.

- Jonathan Walker

The PM said yesterday that the killing of three girls in Southport by Axel Rudakubana, 18, was "not an isolated ghastly example" but a sign that "fundamental change" is needed to protect children.

Massacres

Making the case to crack down on a "tidal wave" of violent material online, he suggested the UK could be hit by school shootings like those in the US. It was also revealed that 162 people were referred to the anti-terror Prevent scheme last year over "concerns relating to school massacres".

Sir Keir insisted: "The tragedy of the Southport killings must be a line in the sand for Britain." The Government has contacted social media firms to demand that they take down online material which Rudakubana is known to have accessed.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it was a "total disgrace" that he was "easily able" to buy a knife on Amazon despite having a conviction for violence, adding: "It must change." She called the murders "one of the most barbaric crimes in our country's history".

Barrister David Anderson - an independent peer in the Lords - has been appointed to lead a review of Prevent, with ministers pledging it will ask questions "unburdened by cultural or institutional sensitivities and driven only by the pursuit of justice".

Tories have called for it to be upgraded to a statutory inquiry, which could compel witnesses to give evidence, and say it must look at the Government, police and prosecution service response to the girls' murders.