Jacob Rees-Mogg has revealed he was once monitored by the government’s anti-terror programme Prevent for “tweeting something they didn’t like”.
Speaking on GB News, the former cabinet minister said the Shawcross Report had exposed his inclusion on a watchlist as a “dangerous right-wing figure”.
His comments came as he accused authorities of a “disgraceful cover-up” regarding Axel Rudakubana, who today pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls in Southport last July.
Rudakubana, 18, was referred to Prevent three times before carrying out the attack, with the first referral coming when he was just 13 years old.
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Two further referrals were made in 2021 while he was living in Lancashire, with concerns raised over his potential interest in school massacres.
The Guardian reports he had viewed material about US school shootings on computers at his own school and had a fascination with violence.
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Despite these concerns, officials determined he did not fit the criteria for the scheme, though referrals to other services were recommended.
Today at Liverpool Crown Court, Rudakubana admitted killing Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
He also pleaded guilty to attempting to murder eight other children and two adults, possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual, and producing ricin.
Despite the terror-related charges, Merseyside Police maintained the attack was not terrorism, saying they could not establish it was motivated by political, religious, racial or ideological causes.
Jacob Rees-Mogg spoke to Christopher Hope on GB News
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“The cover-up is disgraceful,” Jacob told GB News. “You look at these riots and a photo of this man and you had been there and seen someone looking like the devil attacking little children.”
He criticised authorities’ handling of the case, saying: “The Home Secretary didn’t say anything, she would have known, the police said nothing. We should have been told straight away it was a terrorist incident.”
The riots following the attack have led to nearly 450 people being sentenced.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged the public will “rightly demand answers” over how the state “failed” to protect the murdered children.
He promised the Government would leave “no stone unturned” in pursuing those answers.
Following the stabbings, an emergency review of how Prevent handled Rudakubana’s case was ordered.
The review found that Prevent’s policies at the time, covering the criteria needed to accept someone for de-radicalisation work, were correctly followed.
