Rudd’s cop out
Home Secretary ‘burying head in sand’ over surge in violent crime
THE “naive” Home Secretary was yesterday accused of sticking her head in the sand over the surge in gun and knife killings.
Amber Rudd will today unveil the Tories’ £40million plan for curbing violence, including a new task force.
More than 50 people have been killed in London this year. But she refused to accept claims the bloodshed was down to Tory police cuts.
“In the early 2000s, when serious violent crimes were at their highest, police numbers were rising. In 2008, when knife crime was far greater than the lows we saw in 2013-14, police numbers were close to the highest we’d seen in decades,” she told the Sunday Telegraph.
But Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner told the BBC: “When the Home Secretary sticks her head in the sand and suggests that losing 21,000 police officers doesn’t have an effect, then that’s a very naive position.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Ms Rudd and the Prime Minister of “ignoring their record on security”. And Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey said: “It’s nonsense to argue lower police numbers don’t matter in the fight against serious crime.” Under the Serious Violence Strategy launched today, possession of zombie knives will be outlawed along with sales of blades to residential homes. Under-18s will also be banned from buying acid.