When it emerged that Axel Rudakubana, the 18-year-old suspect accused of murdering three young girls in Southport, was facing two further charges related to producing the poison known as ricin and for possessing material likely to be useful to someone preparing a terrorist attack, the chief constable of Merseyside police, Serena Kennedy, called for people not to “engage in rumour and speculation”. Her warnings were futile. Soon after the news broke, social media was awash with a tide of speculation and, in some cases, overt racism.
One particularly troubling response came from Conservative party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick. Just 35 minutes after the Merseyside police published its official statement, he released a wildly irresponsible video stating that he was “seriously concerned that the facts may have been withheld”, and that the public “had the right to know the truth right away”. The message was conspiratorial, suggesting the possibility of a cover-up by the police. It echoed the position advanced by Nigel Farage, who has questioned whether the “truth is being withheld”, and was accused of inciting this summer’s riots. And it was just the latest indication that one wing of the Conservative party is becoming radicalised, in much the same way that the US Republican party has shifted towards the extreme right under Donald Trump.
