Sue Hackman

Knife crime has gone up by a shocking 77% since 2015, and the number of fatal stabbings has hit a record high, with the steepest increases in our towns and suburbs. Indeed, there was a knife crime in Bellfields this very week

Too many young lives are being lost, too many families and communities left distraught.

Yet the Conservatives have repeatedly and shamefully failed to act.

Ministers have said 16 times that they will ban the online sale of dangerous knives. Yet even with the changes they belatedly announced yesterday, it will still be easier to buy dangerous machetes and ninja swords online than it is to buy a kitchen knife on the high street.

Enough is enough. We need urgent action to save lives. Only Labour is determined to do that. 

Keir Starmer has made it part of our mission for the next Labour government to halve knife crime. That is why we have set out an urgent plan:

• Get knives off our streets with an urgent crackdown on the possession and sale of lethal knives, and bring in new and stronger laws to crack down on dangerous knife sales
• Crackdown on criminal gangs who are luring teenagers into violence, by making child criminal exploitation an offence and strengthening the serious and organised crime strategy
• Community prevention work and early intervention to stop young people being drawn into crime through a major new Young Futures Programme including new youth hubs and mental health support
• Immediate interventions and serious consequences for young people caught carrying a knife with referrals to Youth Offending Teams, sanctions and bespoke intervention plans
• Create a new cross-government coalition to end knife crime, bringing together political and community leaders to help tackle the issue and keep young people safe