The total number of homicides has risen by 12 per cent from the previous year to 701, excluding exceptional incidents with multiple victims such as the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, according to figures released by the UK statistical agency today.
Knife crime has continued to rise, with police recording 40,147 offences. As regards overall crime, police recorded a total of 5.5m offences, a rise of a 11 per cent compared with the previous year.
Sarah Jones, the Labour MP and founder and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on knife crime, added: “It’s official, knife crime is at the highest level on record. The proportion of murders involving a knife has jumped from 30 to 40%, and across the country young people are living with fear and trauma. Today’s figures confirm that this is a public health emergency.
“The argument is being made by politicians of all sides, by campaigners, youth workers and other frontline professionals,” she said. “We don’t need more reviews from government, we need concrete action. We need a dedicated unit in government to work across departments to cure the growing epidemic of violence in our communities.”“The argument is being made by politicians of all sides, by campaigners, youth workers and other frontline professionals,” she said. “We don’t need more reviews from government, we need concrete action. We need a dedicated unit in government to work across departments to cure the growing epidemic of violence in our communities.”
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