Last week myself and Rachel Hopkins MP had a meeting with the brilliant Violence and Exploitation Reduction (VERU) Unit to discuss their ‘Just Drop It’ anti-knife crime campaign strategy across Bedfordshire. At its heart is the voice and experience of a mum, Roseann, who tragically lost her young son Azaan ‘AJ’ Kaleem.
We know knife crime is a scourge on our society, and has increased by 70% since 2015. It has tragic and often fatal consequences. Knife crime not only takes lives, it devastates families, destroys futures and ambitions and has a detrimental ripple effect on our communities.
That is why I am glad Labour has today launched their Action Plan to cut knife crime, pledging £100 million to:
Enforce tougher consequences for carrying a knife, with mandatory and bespoke action plans to prevent re-offendingA targeted early intervention programme to stop young people being drawn into crimeA crackdown on the availability of knives on Britain’s streetsEnding exploitation of young people by criminal gangsA new cross-Government Coalition to End Knife Crime, bringing together political and community leaders to play a role in tackling knife crime