The Home Office minister expressed sympathy with victims’ families following recent attacks, including the death of a 16-year-old boy in Cambridgeshire

A Home Office minister has vowed to intensify efforts on knife crime, while expressing her profound condolences to the families of victims killed in recent attacks. Sarah Jones recognised that tackling knife crime is the Government’s responsibility, telling MPs the issue has been “plaguing communities and destroying lives” for far too long.

Her remarks follow the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old boy in Peterborough on Sunday (April 12) and the murder of 21-year-old Finbar Sullivan in Primrose Hill, north London, last Tuesday (April 7).

In a Commons statement, Ms Jones said knife crime has fallen by 8 percent and knife homicides have decreased by 27 percent since the beginning of this Parliament. Nevertheless, she admitted “it is not enough”.

Last week, the Government unveiled £26 million to combat knife crime, with national mapping technology to be distributed among police forces to help identify hotspots. The investment will be distributed among the 27 police forces in England and Wales that handle 90 percent of knife crime.

Speaking on Tuesday (April 14), Ms Jones said: “In too many places, a deadly cycle has taken hold as fear and violence feed off each other, leaving people, and especially young people, feeling that they have no choice but to carry a weapon to stay safe, and in the most devastating cases, resulting in the loss of lives which have barely begun.

“Knife crime is destructive and devastating, and it has for too long been plaguing communities and destroying lives. The task of putting that right falls to this Government,” she added. Paying tribute to recent victims of knife crime, she said: “Stabbings are still occurring and lives are still being lost.

“Indeed, there have been several fatal cases in recent days, and I take this opportunity to express my deepest sympathies to the victims’ loved ones. For them and for all the families out there whose world has been forever changed by knife crime and for a country as a whole, we must do more.”

Labour MP Sam Carling (North West Cambridgeshire) referenced the “horrific attack” in his constituency on Sunday, urging the minister to clarify what steps are being taken “to understand the root causes of why knife crime in certain regions isn’t following the national trend of decreasing”.

Cambridgeshire Police confirmed that a 15-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man, both from Peterborough, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. A 17-year-old girl from Peterborough was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, while a 16-year-old girl from March was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and possession of a bladed article.

As of yesterday (April 14), the 18-year-old man and 15-year-old boy remained in custody, while police asked for an extension to the custody time to ask them more questions. The 17-year-old girl has been released on conditional bail until July 8, while the 16-year-old girl was charged with possessing a knife/bladed article in a public place. She is due to appear at Huntingdon Magistrates Court on May 13.

In her response, Ms Jones said: “We are getting absolutely focused both on what the causes are behind knife crime, and a lot of support for young people to try and bring them out of a life of crime, but also understanding exactly what is going on in some areas.”

Shadow crime and policing minister Matt Vickers said: “The proposals put forward by the Labour Government will not be sufficient without two critical foundations, powers for officers to stop and search individuals and sufficient officer numbers to put this strategy into effect.

“The hotspot policing outlined by the Government must be used in conjunction with effective stop and search, which the Government strategy acknowledges is broadly supported by the public.”

He contended that “a single suspicion indicator is enough to merit a stop and search”. Conservative MP Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) and Reform MP Sarah Pochin (Runcorn and Helsby) also both urged for police to receive enhanced stop-and-search powers.

Ms Jones responded: “If you stop and search everybody, all our police would spend all their time stopping and searching people to no particular end. It has to be evidence-based, and it has to be targeted, and that’s what the police are doing.

“We want more intelligence-led stop and search, it’s a good thing, but if you think that’s the only answer, then I think you misunderstand the problem.”