Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said reducing knife crime will be a “moral mission” if he becomes prime minister after the election on July 4.
On Tuesday, Sir Keir—accompanied by actor and campaigner Idris Elba—met several people who have lost relatives to knife crime, including Lorraine Jones, a pastor, whose son Dwayne Simpson was stabbed to death in Brixton, south London, in 2014.
Sir Keir—a former lawyer and director of public prosecutions—said if Labour wins the election, he would chair an annual summit to track progress in meeting the party’s target of halving knife crime incidents within a decade.
Sir Keir said, “Cutting knife crime will be a moral mission for the next Labour government.”
“Our new cross-government coalition will put knife crime victims and their families at the heart of government, working with us to take the strongest action in a generation to end this tragic crime,” he added.
Crimes involving knives or sharp instruments in England and Wales went up by 7 percent to 49,489 in 2023, but remain 3 percent lower than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic total of 51,206 offences in the year ending March 2020.
The number of people convicted of possession of a bladed article rose from 27,463 in 2022 to 27,672 last year.
In 2006 the-then home secretary in a Labour government, John Reid, hosted a knife crime summit and considered raising the maximum sentence for carrying a bladed weapon to five years.
But it was never enacted and the maximum sentence, under the Sentencing Council guidelines, remains four years, although most first-time offenders do not get custodial sentences.
In its manifesto Labour say it “will end the practice of empty warnings by ensuring knife carrying triggers rapid intervention and tough consequences.”
It goes on to say, “Every young person caught in possession of a knife will be referred to a youth offending team and will receive a mandatory plan to prevent reoffending, with penalties including curfews, tagging, and custody for the most serious cases.”
Starmer Promises ‘Consequences for Carrying a Knife’
He said: “We are going to have to deal with knife crime offenders, they need consequences for carrying a knife. And we’re going to have to mend the system when it comes to prisons.”“It’s plain common sense that nobody can build a prison in the first week of the Labour government. Get on with the problem, get on with rebuilding, not just our prisons, but our country, because almost everything now is broken under this government,” he added.
- Guaranteed sanctions for young people carrying knives.
- A Young Futures programme to support people most at risk.
- Measures to get weapons off the streets by extending the list of banned knives and reviewing online sales.
- A cross-government coalition involving politicians and community leaders.
- A new offence of child criminal exploitation.
Marie-Julie Koudou, whose son Salim was murdered in 2020, told The Epoch Times last year some drill songs and videos were “fuelling” the violence.
Rachel Duncan—who set up Sit Up Stand Up 2 Knife Violence after her 16-year-old nephew James Bascoe-Smith was almost killed in 2021—also told The Epoch Times drill music had worsened the postcode gang wars.
Sir Keir said some measures, such as banning certain types of knives from being sold online, could be pushed through quickly but other elements would take longer.
Policing minister Chris Philp said, “When Keir Starmer was in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service convictions for weapon possession fell, and knife crime has risen by 20 percent in Labour-run London.”
Mr. Philp, who is the Conservative candidate for Croydon South, said, “The choice at the election is clear: cracking down on crime with Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives, or back to square one with Keir Starmer and the same old Labour who consistently fail to tackle crime.”
