Keir Starmer vows to end 'weak' rules that let kids with knives write apologies

24 January 2024 , 22:30

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Keir Starmer has lashed out at Tory failure to tackle knife crime (Image: PA Wire)

Keir Starmer has vowed to get rid of "weak" rules he says mean young people caught with a knife can avoid punishment by writing an apology letter.

The Labour leader said those found carrying a blade will "feel the full force of the law" if he becomes PM. Mr Starmer, who headed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) before he was an MP, said he was appalled that half of knife possession cases result in no further action being taken by police in they year to last March.

Lack of punishment has led to young lives being lost, Labour says, while Mr Starmer said a 70% rise in knife crime reports since 2015 highlights Tory failure. He said he had been horrified by killings in his constituency, including that of 16-year-old Harry Pitman on New Year's Eve.

Mr Starmer said he had been heartbroken by the loss of young lives including Harry Pitman in his constituency (Metropolitan Police / SWNS)

He said: "The hardest thing I've ever done as an MP, but will continue to do, is go and see the parents of a young person who's been killed. There is nothing harder than that meeting." He continued: "We need someone to grip it and say we're not going to put up with this anymore."

Under Labour, he promised, young people found with a knife have to be referred to a Youth Offending Team. They would face sanctions including curfews, tagging, or behavioural contracts, alongside requirements for parents to prevent it happening again.

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Labour has vowed to cut knife crime by half within five years. Mr Starmer said he had been heartbroken listening to a radio interview with the dad of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, 19, who was stabbed to death while defending her friend Barnaby Webber in Nottingham last June. The Labour leader said he was moved by Dr Sanjoy Kumar's call for knife crime to be tackled. He said little had changed since the death of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella, who was stabbed to death in Islington, North London, in 2008.

"I was really struck by Ben Kinsella's dad who listened to Grace's dad. He said: 'That's me speaking 15 years ago, and nothing has changed'." Mr Starmer continued: "I can't live with those personal stories that I've heard from grieving parents and simply walk by on this so I'm very happy to have that fight going into the election.

"I don't think they (the Tories) have got a record to stand on. And I don't think they've got the right to pretend that they're the party of law and order."

Mr Starmer added that youth hubs - identifying kids who are at risk of falling into a life of violence - would be set up using £100million raised by scrapping tax breaks for private schools. And he vowed that a Labour Government would put an additional 13,000 neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs on the streets.

Since 2010, when the Tories came to power, the number of police officers per 100,000 of the population has dropped from 264 to 251. Mr Starmer said this has had an impact on tackling the knife crime epidemic. He said: "I saw as Chief Prosecutor the power of prevention - lives are being lost to knife crime because Tory governments don’t. Labour will turn this around. We will give young people real support to achieve their potential and stay on track, but flout that chance, and they’ll feel the full force of the law.”

Dave Burke