Good Morning Britain’s Ed Balls and Ranvir Singh fought back tears as they discussed the tragic stabbings in Southport on Wednesday’s show.
Three children died in the attack that took place 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 a critical condition.
A 17-year-old boy – originally from Cardiff but who now lives in the nearby Lancashire village of Banks – accused of murder and attempted murder remains in custody.
On GMB Ranvir, 46, and Ed, 57, moved from their usual seats on the desk to stand in front of the screen.
They then read out the harrowing statements from each of the families of the children who died.
Good Morning Britain’s Ed Balls and Ranvir Singh fought back tears as they discussed the tragic stabbings in Southport on Wednesday’s show
Three children died in the attack that took place 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 a critical condition
A visibly emotional Ranvir then stuttered: ‘It’s difficult to talk,’ as Ed let out a huge sigh.
During a later segment of the show, local mums were asked about their reaction to the shocking violence.
One admitted that she was running a similar Taylor Swift-themed workshop where kids could dance and make friendship bracelets for one another.
Taylor Swift fans are famous for their friendship bracelet making and trade them at shows and concerts.
Ed held back tears as he reacted to the interview saying: ‘That reference to making bracelets… young girls at a Taylor Swift dance club at the beginning of the school holidays, making friendship bracelets.
‘Which of course at concerts they give to strangers. And a stranger comes into the room and devastation occurs. It’s just shocking.’
Ranvir paid an emotional tribute to the three girls while their pictures were shown on a big screen in the GMB studios, telling viewers: ‘Good Morning Britain, these are the pictures of the innocent lives that were taken far too soon.’
It comes as the mother of the little girl, seven, murdered in the Southport knife rampage has called for the violence to end after a night of rioting left 39 police officers injured.
On GMB Ranvir, 46, and Ed, 57, moved from their usual seats on the desk to stand in front of the screen and read out 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 alongside six-year-old Bebe King (left) and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar (right)
Elsie Dot Stancombe was killed alongside six-year-old Bebe King and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar in a horrific knife rampage on Monday at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance workshop.
And following a peaceful vigil last night where thousands of mourners had gathered to remember the victims who lost their lives, violent thugs were accused of showing ‘no respect to a town that’s grieving’.
Crowds of yobs – many of whom are thought to have come from outside Southport – torched a police van and left 39 officers and three dogs injured, including 27 who needed treatment in hospital.
But as the community rallied together against the violence, Jenni Stancombe, the mother of little Elsie, pleaded for the violence to end on social media.
She said: ‘This is the only thing that I will write, but please stop the violence in Southport tonight.
‘The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don’t need this.’
Eight other children suffered stab wounds in the bloodbath. Five are in a critical condition, alongside two women who were also critically injured as they bravely tried to save the children.
And today the coastal community united to bring order back to their quiet streets – on local Facebook groups some offered their rooms to people who needed a safe space, while others organised clean up crews to remove the carnage of the night before.
Builders offered their services for free to rebuild walls demolished after thugs threw rubble at police vehicles and others took to social media to praise brave officers.
Labour MP for Southport Patrick Hurley reflected on the vigil in the town on Tuesday evening for victims of Monday’s knife attack, saying the community were ‘reeling’ and ‘in grief’ following the death of three girls.
He condemned the ‘beered-up thugs’ who threw bricks towards a mosque, and said yobs had got the train in and used the tragic deaths ‘for their own political purposes’.
Speaking to the Today programme, he said: ‘These were thugs who got the train in, these were not the people from Southport.
‘They were using the horrific incident on Monday, the deaths of three little kiddies, for their own political purposes and actually to attack the very same first responders and the very same police, who had been on the scene on Monday, were then being pelted with bricks the day after by these thugs.
‘There’s no way to describe that other than to say it’s utterly reprehensible and we must identify these people and make sure that the full force of the law is down against them.’
He went on: ‘These people are utterly disrespecting the families of the dead and injured children and utterly disrespecting the town.’
He continued: ‘Even if this lad, the 17-year-old, turns out to be Muslim, under no circumstances does that justify any attack on a mosque by anybody at all. Not least these beered-up thugs who have descended on the town last night intent on causing trouble.
‘We all have to stand against that and Southport will not accept this. Southport will unite against this sort of thing.’
Merseyside’s 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 ‘whip up hatred’.
The Prime Minister and Home Secretary joined police chiefs in condemning the ‘sickening’ violence, which started barely an hour after thousands of mourners had gathered for a vigil to remember the victims who lost their lives.
Just yards away from the emotional vigil, a 32-year-old man, dressed in all black with a hat on the joint-hottest day of the year, was separately arrested after being caught carrying a flick knife on Eastbank Street at 6.55pm.
Three girls were killed in a bloody rampage on Hart Street on Monday. On Tuesday, a vigil was held for the victims on Lord Street. While it was going on, a man with a flick knife was arrested on Eastbank Street. On St Luke’s Road, riots erupted outside a mosque – also on Tuesday
Southport burns: A street near a mosque goes up in flames as violent thugs took to the streets last night
On nearby St Luke’s Street, rioters chanting ‘English till I die’ surrounded the Southport Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre and began hurling rubble at police officers who had formed a protective line around the building.
The violence appears to have been fuelled by false claims online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.
The 17-year-old boy, who remains in custody accused of murder and attempted murder, is originally from Cardiff but now lives in the nearby Lancashire village of Banks.
Police have said that, although the motive for the attack is unclear, it is not believed to be terror-related.