Furious Nigel Farage demands Angela Rayner apology in Southport killings row
Reform UK leader says he was proved right after Deputy Prime Minister dismissed hos suggestion that the murders were terrorism
Nigel Farage is demanding an apology from Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner after she condemned his suggestion that the Southport killings were terror-related.
The Reform UK leader said he was proved right after it emerged that teenage killer Axel Rudakubana was referred to the anti-extremism scheme Prevent three times before carrying out the horrific murders of three children.
Mr Farage said: "This is an appalling cover-up and I deserve apologies."
The pair clashed shortly after the attack last July, when Mr Farage said there were questions remaining surrounding the tragedy and possible links to terrorism.
He said at the time: "I have to say there are one or two questions. Was this guy being monitored by the security services? Some reports say he was, others less sure.
"I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us. I don’t know the answer to that. I think it is a fair and legitimate question. What I do know is something is going horribly wrong in our once beautiful country."
And asked directly about Mr Farage’s words at the time, Ms Rayner said: "He must understand that you have a level of responsibility, you’re a community leader, you’re elected to represent your constituency.
"And therefore you have a level of responsibility with that, and it’s not to stoke up what conspiracy theories or what you think might have happened, or lean into what you think."
She continued: "We have a responsibility to hold the community together and say, let’s get the facts and then let’s look at what the actual solutions are and what we can do about the horrific situation that we find ourselves in, not to stir up these fake news online."
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has now said the killings should be considered a form of terrorism, even though they do not meet the usual definition because Rudakubana acted alone rather than being part of an organised group.
Mr Farage told The Telegraph: "Many public figures, including Angela Rayner, made derogatory and inciteful remarks about my comments in the vacuum that followed the terrorist attack in Southport.
"I was right all along. This man was known to the authorities and the truth was withheld. As the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Jonathan Hall KC confirmed, the public should have been told the truth without damaging the trial."