Kemi Badenoch has blamed a lack of 'integration' in the UK for the horrific crimes of Southport child killer Axel Rudakubana.
The Conservative Party leader today used media interviews to demand the UK has a 'dominant' culture, after Rudakubana was jailed for 52 years for murdering three young girls in a Taylor Swift dance class.
The mass slaughter in which the teenager – aged just 17 at the time – attempted to kill eight other children and two adults has not been treated as an act of terrorism because detectives could find no ideology behind his terrible crimes.
Rudakubana was born in Wales to parents who are Rwandan Christians.
But on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the Tory leader suggested there may have been a religious motivation for his actions.
“There are many people like Rudakubana who, despite being here from childhood or born here, they do not integrate into the rest of society, they hate their country,” she said.
'They are told everything about the UK is terrible, he had materials about white genocide and so on.
“If you're drawn into hatred, you don't integrate well, and there's so much we can do across the board and not just on religious extremism, extremism across the board.”
However, she was unable to provide any evidence to support her claim that a lack of integration played a role in the crime, other than 'my personal experience'.
The Conservative Party leader today used media interviews to demand the UK has a 'dominant' culture, after Rudakubana was jailed for 52 years for murdering three young girls in a Taylor Swift dance class.
The mass slaughter in which the teenager – aged just 17 at the time – attempted to kill eight other children and two adults has not been treated as an act of terrorism because detectives could find no ideology behind his terrible crimes.
Rachel Reeves said it was key ministers' “advice” from the Crown Prosecution Service and from police in what they say during a criminal investigation.
Ms Badenoch also said Rudakubana should have received a longer sentence but fell short of calling for a return to the death penalty.
She told Sky News' Sunday morning with Trevor Phillips: 'If he had done this ten days later he would have been eligible for a whole life sentence.
“I want to ensure that victims do not have to see their perpetrators after such serious and heinous crimes.”
Asked about the death penalty, she said, “I personally don't think that would solve things…I don't think that's the way we should go.”
The 18-year-old was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years on Thursday—one of the highest minimum terms—for killing Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, during a dance class in Southport on July 29 last year.
He also tried to kill eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has already announced that a public inquiry will be held to look into any 'missed opportunities' to identify Rudakubana's murderous intent and ordered a 'thorough review' of referrals for the occurrence.
Writing in the Sunday Times, she said a review of referral thresholds to prevent was underway.
This will particularly look like individuals obsessed with school massacres” and also “Islamist extremism,” she said.
'Where individuals are suspected of being neurodiverse, interventions should not stop just because they are awaiting assessments, ignoring any risks they may pose,' she added.
Rudakubana was diagnosed by local health authorities with autism spectrum disorder.
Rachel Reeves said it was key ministers' “advice” from the Crown Prosecution Service and from police in what they say during a criminal investigation.
It was put to her that Terror Laws independent reviewer Jonathan Hall KC had said the government and authorities should be more open about criminal cases to avoid filling an information vacuum online.
She told Sky News: 'I think it's really important that ministers follow advice from the Crown Prosecution Service and from the police and don't say anything to prejudice an investigation. That is incredibly important.
“The killer will now spend the rest of his life in prison, and it is really important that ministers have done nothing to that trial that could have prejudiced it in any way.”
