MPs to probe rise in knife crime in wake of spate of deaths
Neil Puffett
Friday, September 15, 2017
A new cross-party group of MPs and peers has been launched to investigate the rise in knife crime across the UK.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on knife crime, which will be supported by children's charity Barnardo's and youth charity Redthread, will evaluate policies and programmes aimed at reducing knife crime, developing recommendations for government on how to tackle the issue.
The launch follows the deaths of four teenagers in the space of a week across the country last month after stabbings, including a 15-year-old boy from Croydon.
Sarah Jones, Labour MP for Croydon Central, who will chair the group, said: "This group brings together MPs and peers with huge experience and enthusiasm to tackle this tough issue.
"This is a UK problem which needs a UK-wide response. This summer I met towering figures in my local community who are fighting this problem and I know there are countless others developing solutions across the country.
"I will continue to press for a long-term, cross-government strategy for knife crime, and I hope that this APPG will bring us closer to this."
John Poyton, chief executive of Redthread, which places youth workers in accident and emergency departments to work with young victims of gang crime, said: "We are grateful to Sarah Jones for drawing attention to a problem our youth workers and medical colleagues see in A&E every day.
"We are really pleased to partner with Barnardo's as secretariat for this APPG and look forward to using our experience of tackling knife crime from a public health approach to feed into reducing the issue across the UK."
Jones led a debate on knife crime in the House of Commons last week where she called for a "comprehensive national 10-year strategy" to tackle what has become "an epidemic of violence".
During the debate she highlighted growing concerns about the use of social media by young people, and the ability of schools to cope with the issues experienced by young people in the face of budget cuts.
The APPG will look in detail at the root causes of knife crime - with particular focus on prevention and early intervention - and will look to hear from experts, campaigners and also individuals formerly involved in knife crime.
