Two in court for Lee Rigby murder as PM launches task force

As the two men suspected of killing Drummer Rigby appeared in separate courts, David Cameron and senior cabinet members including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Home Secretary Theresa May gathered for the group’s first meeting.

The PM asked Education Secretary Michael Gove and Schools Minister David Laws to look at confronting extreme views in schools and charities, the Number 10 spokesman said, while Business Secretary Vince Cable is to monitor universities.

Mr Cameron also asked Justice Secretary Chris Grayling to look into similar issues in prisons and Faith and Communities minister Baroness Warsi to examine work in communities.

Earlier Michael Adebolajo, 28, of Romford, Essex, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with Drummer Rigby’s murder, while Michael Adebowale, 22, facing the same charge, appeared via videolink at the Old Bailey.

Other politicians in attendance were Chancellor George Osborne and Government Policy Minister Oliver Letwin.

The anti-terrorism group, which is to hear from experts at subsequent meetings, will focus on radical preachers who target potential recruits in jails, schools, colleges and mosques.

It will monitor trends in radicalisation and tackle “poisonous narratives”, No 10 previously said.

The update came ahead of an address to the House of Commons by the Prime Minister.

Drummer Rigby was hacked to death near Woolwich Barracks in south east London as he strolled back to base on May 22.

People across the country subsequently paid their respects to Drummer Rigby, with floral tributes marking the scene of his death.

But this weekend also saw clashes between rival protesters outside the Palace of Westminster, despite pleas from police and the soldier’s family not to use the death for political gain.

Around 300 Unite Against Fascism (UAF) members gathered in Parliament Square on Saturday to block the British National Party (BNP) from marching to the Cenotaph.

Fierce shouting from both sides spilled into violence and dozens of police were required to break up the disorder.

Scotland Yard said 58 people from the UAF protest were arrested under section 14 of the Public Order Act after they refused to move to their pre-arranged protest pen in Whitehall.

Protests by the Scottish Defence League (SDL) and anti-racism campaigners took place in Edinburgh’s Old Town.

The SDL held a static protest outside the Scottish Parliament, while the UAF organised its own counter-protest.

Small groups of EDL supporters gathered across England, including in Sheffield, Brighton, Luton, Colchester and Walsall.

Addressing the House of Commons, the Prime Minister said: “I’m sure the whole house will join me in sending our deepest condolences to the friends and family of Drummer Lee Rigby.

“What happened on the streets of Woolwich shocked and sickened us all. It was a despicable attack on a British soldier who stood for our country and our way of life.

“And it was too a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country. There’s nothing in Islam which justifies acts of terror and I welcome the spontaneous condemnation of this attack from mosques and Muslim community organisations right across our country.”

Mr Cameron said: “We will not be cowed by terror and terrorists who seek to divide us will only make us stronger and more united in our resolve to defeat them.

He added that as well as the two men charged with murder, 10 further arrests were made as part of the investigation. Two women were released without charge and eight men were released on bail.

He went on: “The police and security services will not rest until they’ve brought all of those responsible to justice.”

The Prime Minister said there had already been three major counter-terror trials this year, in which 18 people were found guilty and sentenced to a total of 150 years in prison.

Mr Cameron said: “It’s important that we learn the lessons of what happened in Woolwich.”

He said the Intelligence and Security Committee would investigate how the Woolwich suspects were radicalised, what was known about them, whether more could have been done to stop them and further lessons to be learned.

The committee, chaired by Sir Malcom Rifkind MP, hopes to conclude its work by the end of the year, he said.

The Prime Minister said: “To tackle the threat of extremism, we must understand its root causes. Those who carried out this callous and abhorrent crime sought to justify their actions by extremist ideology that perverts and warps Islam to create a culture of victimhood and justify violence.

“We must confront this ideology in all its forms.”