Tributes placed near the scene of the Southport knife attack, August 2024. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) On July 29 2024, Labour councillors Dave Neary and Greg Myers were on their way home from a council meeting in Southport when they saw one of the roads had been blocked. They stopped and asked a policeman what was going on. He told them there had been an incident.  The pair headed down to their local incident centre at the Meols Cop youth club, at the heart of Norwood ward, where they both served. The scene was “hectic”, Neary said. “Distressed parents, distressed emergency responders, ambulances, police cars, blue lights.” He saw a “visibly shaken” fire and rescue worker being comforted by colleagues. Although facts were bare on the ground, Neary and Myers were about to have their lives transformed. Less than an hour earlier, Axel Rudakubana had walked into a Taylor Swift themed dance class armed with an eight-inch long knife.…