MP says urgent action needed to stop gang wars
‘Co-ordinated effort vital to halt violence’
ABIRMINGHAM MP is calling for “emergency co-ordination” to prevent gang war breaking out on the streets of Birmingham in the spring and summer.
Khalid Mahmood said he feared there could be a return of the gang violence that hit Birmingham in the early 2000s.
He is calling for police, the Home Office and city council to work with him and with experts on gang culture to prevent more deaths.
Mr Mahmood (Lab) said: “My understanding is that gangs are lining up and we could see more violence, particularly as the weather gets warmer and Covid vaccinations are rolled out.
“We had a postcode gang war in the early 2000s and I fear a repeat of this now again.
“I believe it’s important that we now set up an emergency coordination in relation to this.
“Most of the gang members involved at the moment are teenagers, and some of them are under 16. We need a concerted programme to look at this.”
He said that Birmingham had succeeded in reducing gang culture in the past. “I have been dealing with this since I became an MP in 2001. We went through some very difficult times, particularly with the gangs we had in the early 2000s, but we managed to deal with it.
“The only way to deal with it is to get people on the ground who understand gang culture and what’s going on, and who can fight together with the community to address these issues.
“I am calling on all the agencies to get together with me as the Member of Parliament.”
The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, said: “I am ensuring lots of work is being done every week to reduce knife crime. This includes a knife crime mentoring programme in dozens of schools across the region, and we’ve placed youth workers in A&E departments to unpick young people from a cycle of violence.”