Good Morning Britain’s Ed Balls and Ranvir Singh fought back tears as they spoke about the tragic Southport stabbings on Wednesday’s show.
Three children died in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class: Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine. Five children and two adults remain in critical condition.
A 17-year-old boy, originally from Cardiff but now living in the nearby Lancashire village of Banks, charged with murder and attempted murder, remains in custody.
On GMB, Ranvir, 46, and Ed, 57, moved from their usual desk seats to stand in front of the screen.
They then read heartbreaking statements from each of the families of the deceased children.
Good Morning Britain’s Ed Balls and Ranvir Singh fought back tears as they spoke about the tragic Southport stabbings on Wednesday’s show.
Three children died in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class: Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine. Five children and two adults remain in critical condition.
Then Ranvir, visibly emotional, stammered, “It’s difficult to talk,” while Ed let out a deep sigh.
During a later segment of the show, local moms were asked about their reaction to the shocking violence.
One admitted she was running a similar Taylor Swift-themed workshop where kids could dance and make friendship bracelets for each other.
Taylor Swift fans are famous for making friendship bracelets and exchanging them at shows and concerts.
Ed held back tears as he reacted to the interview saying: ‘That reference to making bracelets… young girls in a Taylor Swift dance club at the beginning of the school holidays, making friendship bracelets.
“Of course, concerts are given to strangers. And a stranger walks into the room and there’s a disaster. It’s just shocking.”
Ranvir paid an emotional tribute to the three girls as their photographs were shown on a giant screen at the GMB studios, telling viewers: “Good morning Britain, these are the pictures of the innocent lives taken too soon.”
The mother of the seven-year-old girl killed in the Southport knife shooting has called for an end to the violence after a night of rioting that left 39 police officers injured.
On GMB, Ranvir, 46, and Ed, 57, moved from their usual seats at the desk to stand in front of the screen and read some emotional tributes.
Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, was one of the victims of a knife attack during a dance event in Southport.
She was killed along with six-year-old Bebe King (left) and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar (right).
Elsie Dot Stancombe was murdered along with six-year-old Bebe King and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar in a horrific knife attack on Monday at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance workshop.
And after a peaceful vigil last night where thousands had gathered to remember the victims who lost their lives, violent thugs were accused of showing “no respect to a city that is in mourning”.
Mobs of thugs, many of whom are believed to have come from outside Southport, set fire to a police van, leaving 39 officers and three dogs injured, including 27 who needed hospital treatment.
But as the community rallied against the violence, Jenni Stancombe, Elsie’s mother, took to social media to call for an end to the violence.
She said: ‘This is all I will write, but please stop the violence in Southport tonight.
“The police have been heroic these past 24 hours and neither they nor we need this.”
Eight other children were stabbed in the bloodbath. Five of them are in critical condition, as are two women who were also seriously injured when they bravely tried to save the children.
And today the coastal community came together to restore order to its quiet streets: in local Facebook groups, some offered their rooms to people in need of a safe space, while others organised clean-up crews to remove the carnage from the night before.
Builders offered their services for free to rebuild demolished walls after thugs threw debris at police vehicles and others took to social media to praise the brave officers.
Southport Labour MP Patrick Hurley reflected on the vigil held in the town on Tuesday night in memory of the victims of Monday’s knife attack, saying the community was “reeling” and “grieving” following the deaths of three girls.
He condemned “drunken thugs” who threw bricks at a mosque, saying the vandals had entered the train and used the tragic deaths “for their own political ends”.
Speaking to the Today programme, he said: ‘Those were thugs who attacked the train, they were not people from Southport.
‘They were using Monday’s horrific incident, the deaths of three young children, for their own political ends and, in fact, to attack the very first responders and the very police who had been on the scene on Monday and who were then being attacked with bricks the next day by these thugs.
“There’s no way to describe that except to say that it’s absolutely reprehensible and that we need to identify these people and make sure that the full force of the law is brought to bear against them.”
He continued: “These people are completely disrespecting the families of the dead and injured children and they are completely disrespecting the city.”
He continued: “Even if this 17-year-old boy happens to be a Muslim, that does not justify under any circumstances an attack on a mosque by anyone. And even less so by these drunken thugs who came to the city last night with the intention of causing trouble.
“We must all stand against this and Southport will not stand for it. Southport will stand united against this sort of thing.”
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell has said there is a “strong feeling” that members of the English Defence League have used the Southport stabbing to “fuel hatred”.
The Prime Minister and Home Secretary joined police chiefs in condemning the “sickening” violence, which began just an hour after thousands of people had gathered for a vigil in memory of the victims who lost their lives.
Just metres from the emotional vigil, a 32-year-old man, dressed all in black and wearing a hat on the hottest day of the year, was arrested separately after being caught carrying a switchblade on Eastbank Street at 6.55pm.
On Monday, three girls were killed in a bloody shooting on Hart Street. On Tuesday, a vigil was held in memory of the victims on Lord Street. While the vigil was taking place, a man with a switchblade was arrested on Eastbank Street. On St Luke’s Road, riots broke out outside a mosque, also on Tuesday.
Southport ablaze: A street near a mosque caught fire as violent thugs took to the streets last night
On nearby St Luke’s Street, rioters chanting “English to death” surrounded the Southport mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre and began throwing debris at police officers who had formed a protective line around the building.
The violence appears to have been fuelled by false online claims that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.
The 17-year-old, who remains in custody on charges of murder and attempted murder, is originally from Cardiff but now lives in the nearby Lancashire village of Banks.
Police said that while the motive for the attack is unclear, it is not believed to be terrorism-related.