Mark Andrews: No inquiry will ever stop dangerous people doing dreadful things

The full details of how the three innocent young children were savagely attacked on what should have been a joyous occasion is hard to take in, and we can only applaud the courage of those who risked their lives to protect the children.

But while there will now be an inquiry into how Rudakubana slipped through the net - and the inevitable conclusion that 'lessons will be learned' - I'm not entirely convinced that you can ever prevent people like him from committing their wicked acts.

We can all look into his wild, staring eyes, defiantly pursed lips, and his attention-seeking outbursts in court, and ask how people missed the warning signs. I dare say that those who did come into contact with Rudakubana would have found his manner and attitudes disturbing. But, in a liberal democracy, you can't detain people for being strange or scary. 

As the judge who passed sentence observed, debating whether or not his crimes constituted terrorism rather misses the point. 

It may well emerge that opportunities were missed, and that the law enforcement agencies could have done more. But short of indefinitely locking up everybody who seems a bit scary there is little that can be done until they actually commit a crime.

From Michael Ryan, through Derek Bird, to Axel Rudakubana, there have always been dangerous people who do dreadful things. And I doubt if any inquiry or anti-terror programme will prevent that.

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A bit of welcome respite for the long-suffering shareholders of Severn Trent Water, who have been told they will now be in line for bumper dividends after the regulator gave permission for bills to rise by 47 per cent.

I'm no ideologue about who owns our utilities, but things like this don't half bring out my inner Wolfie Smith.

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Donald Trump looked for all the world like a minor celebrity signing copies of his autobiography in a provincial branch of Waterstones as he approved one executive order after another on his inauguration day.

But for all the Make America Great Again weirdness, Trump should be commended for his decision to suspend all the Government's 'diversity, equity and inclusion' programmes on the basis that they contradict the US constitution's protection against discrimination.

I have never understood how people can simultaneously claim to believe in equality - which means treating everybody the same - and diversity, which means breaking people down into different groups to treat them differently. 

I often wonder if any of the diversity zealots are football fans. Because while they may believe in quotas in government, business, and all the important stuff, I suspect their devotion to this ideology might not extend to team selections.