Prime minister is addressing cameras from Downing Street this morning
Good morning. Keir Starmer is due to give a statement, and hold a press conference, within the next hour to discuss the government’s decision to hold a public inquiry into the Southport attack.
According to briefing in advance, Starmer is also keen to use the event this morning to refute claims that there was some sort of cover-up last summer because information about the attacker, Axel Rudakubana, was withheld from the public. Reform UK politicians were particularly vocal in amplifying these claims, and they were a factor that led to the rioting that broke out in some parts of northern England, with attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers. The police insisted there was a limit to what they could say about Rudakubana because the release of information about his violent background could prejudice a trial. Starmer is expected to repeat those points this morning, with reference to his background as a former head of the Crown Prosecution Service.