ON ‘SOFT JUSTICE’

IN RECENT days Sunday Express readers will have felt the same horror as I have at yet another appalling act of knife violence on our streets – this time against one of our own police officers.

The outstanding courage shown by the officers involved is a reminder of just how lucky we are to have such brave people protecting us.

Up and down the land, officers like them put themselves in danger to keep us all safe every day. And this government is committed to giving them the support they need, including in their growing fight to tackle the deeply unsettling rise in knife crime.

Young lives are being lost. Families are being devastated. Communities are being torn apart.

We must do more as a country to bring an end to the violence.

I have been here before as deputy mayor for policing in London, where I stood shoulder to shoulder with the mayor at the time – the man who is now our Prime Minister.

Back then, we faced an upsurge in violent crime, a surge we managed to tackle.

Today, as policing minister, I am committed to working with the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister in the fight to deal with it now.

The Government is moving quickly to deliver on the Prime Minister’s commitment to recruit 20,000 new officers over the next three years.

This will go a long way to helping the police tackle the menace of knives.

Anyone who is carrying a knife or considering doing so should fear the police.

We are also determined to stop deadly weapons from getting on to our streets in the first place.

By stopping violent criminals getting their hands on those weapons, we can immediately reduce the risk of bloodshed and tragedy.

The Offensive Weapons Act, which became law in May, allows us to do just that.

It is, however, crucial that all of the tough new measures in the Act come into force as soon as possible.

Today we are announcing our intention to publish draft guidance that will underpin these important measures.

The Act brings in controls around the sale of knives as well as acid.

It makes it illegal to own certain weapons in private,

including knuckledusters and zombie knives.

It will also make it a criminal offence to deliver knives sold online to a buyer who is under 18.

The police and Government both have a key role to play in tackling knife crime – but we are clear that solving this problem will require effort from across society.

And that means retailers, delivery companies and others all playing their part as we fight to stop potentially deadly weapons falling into the wrong hands.

And our guidance will tell them how they can do that.

We are also intending to publish draft guidance on new Knife Crime Prevention Orders.

These new civil orders will give the police an added tool for combating the evils of knife crime.

THE ORDERS will enable courts to impose conditions – such as curfews or requirements to attend educational courses – that will help young people resist being drawn into violence and help police officers manage those at risk in the community.

They will also act as a deterrent to those most vulnerable of becoming involved in knife crime.

In the end though, we know that the biggest deterrent to any offending is the likelihood of getting caught, and this is why our central mission must be to expand the capacity, and improve the effectiveness, of the police in their central mission of catching criminals.

I don’t want to live in a country where waking up to news of young people being brutally stabbed to death becomes the norm – and I am in no doubt Sunday Express readers feel the same way.

Public safety is an absolute priority of the Prime Minister and this Government and that is why we are taking urgent, assertive action to end the violence on our streets.

‘We are determined to stop deadly weapons getting on to our streets’