Keir Starmer is set to hold a No10 press conference after warning there are questions to answer on how the were "failed" by the state.

The PM will address the nation at 8.30am on Tuesday after he welcomed the conviction of the "vile and sick Southport killer" 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana.

Rudakubana Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, in a frenzied attack on a Taylor Swift-themed class on July 29. He also admitted the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.

Mr Starmer said his thoughts were with the families of everyone affected, "who will be saved from the ordeal of a protracted trial". But he promised to "leave no stone unturned" as he announced a public inquiry into the killings.

The PM on Monday: "It is also a moment of trauma for the nation, and there are grave questions to answer as to how the state failed in its ultimate duty to protect these young girls. Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.

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"At the centre of this horrific event, there is still a family and community grief that is raw, a pain that not even justice can ever truly heal. Although no words today can ever truly convey the depths of that pain, I want the families to know that our thoughts are with them and everyone in Southport affected by this barbaric crime. The whole nation grieves with them."

Home Secretary Yvettee Cooper said the public inquiry into the Southport stabbings will "get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change".

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Ms Cooper said Rudakubana had "contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years" before carrying out his "meticulously planned rampage". And she said he had been referred to the government's anti-radicalisation programme, Prevent, on three occasions between December 2019 and April 2021 aged 13 and 14.

In a statement, she said: "The families and the people of Southport also need answers about what happened leading up to this attack. The perpetrator was in contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years. He was referred three times to the Prevent programme between December 2019 and April 2021 aged 13 and 14.

"He also had contact with the police, the courts, the Youth Justice system, social services and mental health services. Yet between them, those agencies failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed."

She added: "The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been clear that important information about the perpetrator's past could not be made public before today to avoid jeopardising the legal proceedings or prejudicing the possible jury trial, in line with the normal rules of the British justice systems. Nothing has been more important than securing justice for the families.

"But now that there has been a guilty plea, it is essential that the families and the people of Southport can get answers about how this terrible attack could take place and about why this happened to their children."

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