NEW laws to clamp down on violent online content were mooted today as the government began to lay out its response to last July’s murders of three young girls in Southport.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced an inquiry into all circumstances behind the crime and said it was a “total disgrace” that the killer had been able to buy a knife on Amazon, despite being a 17-year-old with a prior conviction for violence.

Axel Rudakubana’s decision to plead guilty to all the charges he faces allows the government to politically address the crime, which gave the pretext for far-right riots in many towns, without fear of prejudicing court proceedings.