PM Commons statement: Intelligence and Security Committee report on Fusilier Lee Rigby

Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on findings in the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament report on the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby.

Mr Speaker, today the House of Commons Intelligence and Security Committee has published its report into the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby.

He was a British soldier who stood for our country and for our way of life…

….and he was killed in broad daylight on the streets of our capital city.

It was a stark reminder of threat we face from home-grown terrorists and extremists plotting to murder our people.

But at the same time we should be clear that it was a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities in Britain who give so much to our country.

Mr Speaker, I am sure the thoughts of the whole House are with his friends and family at this time.

When I spoke in this House in the aftermath of the attack, I said we would bring those responsible to justice…

…and we would learn the lessons of what happened in Woolwich.

The 2 murderers Michael Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo have since been convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

And today this report answers the questions we had about what our security services knew about these murderers….

….and the lessons we can learn to help stop similar attacks in the future.

I am grateful to my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Kensington and his committee for this comprehensive report.

It contains an unprecedented degree of detail on the current workings of MI5, the Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ.

I wanted us to get to the truth as quickly as possible, without a prolonged judicial process.

And I think that is exactly what we have done with this exceptional report.

Few countries in the world would publish this degree of detail about the activities of their security services.

It reflects the way we have strengthened this committee with new powers to hold our security services to account.

And for this report, the agencies have carried out the same searches they would for proceedings in the law courts.