Youth have knife crime solutions - Idris Elba

Idris Elba says solving knife crime was a "non-political" issue

Actor Idris Elba says young people have solutions to tackle knife crime, from tougher sentences to removing loopholes for obtaining knives.

Speaking at an anti-knife crime event in Hammersmith, the actor said he did not know what to say to young people carrying knives.

"They're literally holding these out of fear," he said.

The event was also attended by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and families of knife crime victims.

'What am I going to hold?'

The event comes as latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show recorded knife crime rose by 22% in London in the year to 23 September.

Elba told the group: "I've had conversations which are difficult, like 'Idris, you're telling people to put away our knives, but what am I going to hold?'

"And I feel like I don't know what to say to them, because they're literally holding these out of fear. But they have solutions."

Some said tougher sentences would be a deterrent, while others said there were too many loopholes when it came to obtaining knives, the actor added.

"They know all the loopholes, so let's just use your creative minds and go, 'OK, let's find ways to help'.

"Use your creative minds to help us, help this whole-society issue."

Elba said in an Instagram video later that it was a "very important" meeting families of victims and campaign organisations to discuss "what we need to do as a country to fight this", calling it a non-political issue.

Idris Elba and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer both attended the event

The event was also attended by Pastor Lorraine Jones, the mother of a 20-year-old man who was stabbed to death in Brixton 10 years ago.

Pastor Jones told the group her son, Dwayne Simpson, was killed with "one jab wound".

She said she had continued to live in Brixton since her son was killed, because it was "like a battlefield I can't retreat from".

"We want to be around the table with you, because we do have the answers right now," she said.

"We've got volunteers that are patrolling before school and after school, because we haven't got enough police officers."

"We haven't got enough people in the community, we are desperate," she added.

"And the most brutal thing is we're saying it's becoming the norm.

"We don't want it to become the norm.

"It's not normal for us to be burying our children, or five-year-olds seeing dead bodies and shrines in our neighbourhood."

'Moral mission'

Sir Keir said it was "difficult to hear" stories from the knife crime campaigners.

"This is something which the government needs to take responsibility for - I will take responsibility for - on a cross party basis to make the change that we need," he said.

"Some of it we can get on with quite quickly in terms of banning knives available online.

"Some of it will take longer. But it is a moral mission as far as I'm concerned."

Labour has announced a five-step plan to tackle the issue, including guaranteed sanctions for young people carrying knives, and Sir Keir has pledged to chair an annual summit to track progress towards his goal of halving knife crime within a decade.

Sir Ed Davey said various aspects of police stop and search powers needed reform

The Liberal Democrats pledged in their manifesto to take a "public health approach" to youth violence and invest in youth services.

Sir Ed Davey said: "We need a lot more community police officers - we need visible police who need to be in our communities, on our estates, befriending people and also knowing the local youths.

"It's a way of reaching out to young people to show there's a different way."

He said that "various aspects" of stop and search needed reform.

"It's alienated some communities, but its a power that a police officer will need in certain circumstances," he added.

"Crime differs in different areas... unless you have community police officers, you're not going to make sure you're putting those resources in the right place, against the right criminals."

James Cleverly said knife crime had "gone through the roof" in London

Home Secretary James Cleverly said the statistics for knife crime in London "distorted" the national figures.

"The figures have gone through the roof in London," he told LBC on Tuesday.

The Conservative added that in "most of the country", stop and search had increased.

"When you stop and search, you find knives," he said. "Those are reported as crimes.

"The actual number of people hurt with a bladed weapon has, for the most part, come down."

The Conservative Party said in its manifesto that it would "toughen sentences for knife crime" and "prioritise further measures to crack down on hyper-prolific offenders".