Father of Lee Rigby: I want apology from security agencies

The father of Fusilier Lee Rigby has said he wants an apology from Britain's intelligence services after accusing them of failing to prevent his son's murder.

A parliamentary inquiry, released on Tuesday, said that despite operational mistakes, security agencies could not have stopped Rigby's murder in May 2013.

But Phil McClure told The Times that M15, M16 and GCHQ were partly to blame for not identifying extremists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, both of whom are serving life sentences for his son's death.

“All of them have a bit of blame haven’t they?” Mr McClure told the newspaper.

“All we want really is a good apology off them.”

David Cameron has agreed to meet the family of Lee Rigby, the Prime Minister's spokesperson told ITV's Good Morning Britain.

Lee’s stepfather Ian Rigby and sister Sara McLure appeared on the show this morning and spoke of their anguish following the intelligence and security committee's report.

Social media websites like Facebook have "a duty of care" to alert authorities when users reveal their intentions to take part in an act of terrorism, the stepfather of murdered soldier Lee Rigby has told Good Morning Britain.

Ian Rigby criticised Facebook for not sharing more information with authorities when it emerged one of his stepson's killers, Michael Adebowale, had spoken of his plans to murder a solider in an exchange on the social media site ahead of the attack.

Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo drove into the soldier before hacking him to death near Woolwich Barracks in May 2013.

Speaking after the release of a report into the security failings in the run-up to the attack, Mr Rigby said it was "a necessary evil" for social media websites to share information with authorities in extreme cases.

• Watch Good Morning Britain from 6am to see the full interview

A similar 'trigger' system to the one currently used by online firms to flag up child sexual exploitation should be used in the fight against terrorism, MPs have recommended.

A report released today found social media firms, most of which are based in the US, argue they do not have to comply with UK law and only are currently obliged to hand over information if it poses an "imminent threat".

It comes after an online exchange between one of Fusilier Lee Rigby's killers, Michael Adebowale, and an overseas extremist in which he set out his plan.

ITV News Correspondent Juliet Bremner reports:

Internet firms need to act to prevent terrorists from plotting "murder and mayhem" on their networks, the Prime Minister has argued.

David Cameron made the comments after the release of a report by the government's Intelligence and Security Committee, which raised concerns over some social media companys' policies when it came to tackling suspicious behaviour online.

ITV News UK editor Rohit Kachroo reports:

MI5 was almost a week late in submitting a bid to put Michael Adebowale under heightened surveillance, only submitting it to the Home Office the day before he and Michael Adebolajo murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby, it has emerged.

Despite having a target time of seven days, the government’s Intelligence and Security Committee found the application took almost twice that time. If it had been submitted within the target time frame, the report found Adebowale would almost certainly have been under “intrusive” scrutiny in the days leading up to – and the day of – the attack.

The report went on to say while it was “improbable” that any coverage would have uncovered Adebowale’s plans, the delay was “significant”.

The uncle of murdered soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby has said he hopes a report into what intelligence services knew ahead of the attack will be used to make a difference.

Raymond Dutton, who lives in Manchester, also admitted he did not believe his nephew’s murder could have been prevented, adding: “He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Intelligence services have today been cleared of any blame over the brutal killing of soldier Lee Rigby, in an official report which found they could not have prevented the tragedy.

But the report also reveals an online conversation by one of Fusilier Rigby’s killers, Michael Adebowale, had discussed in graphic detail his intention to kill a soldier with an overseas extremist on a social media platform, believed to have been Facebook.

ITV News UK editor Rohit Kachroo reports:

Facebook hosted an exchange between Michael Adebowale and an overseas extremist ahead of the murder of Lee Rigby, ITV News understands.

In the exchange Adebowale spoke of his intent to murder a soldier.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Facebook said they took "steps" to prevent people using the site for terrorist purposes.