MP describes feeling pain of knife crime victims ‘with every hug and tear’

‘Crime rips communities apart leaving too many people vulnerable and open to exploitation,’ a London MP has told the House of Commons.

Florence Eshalomi told the Commons she supported ministers’ ambitions to halve rates of violence against women and girls (David Woolfall/UK Parliament/PA) (PA Media)

Mistreatment of gang-associated girls is “just one example of why our streets need to be safer”, a Labour MP has warned.

Backing the King’s Speech on Wednesday, Florence Eshalomi told the Commons she supported ministers’ ambitions to halve rates of violence against women and girls and to ban ninja swords through a new Crime and Policing Bill.

Ms Eshalomi represents Vauxhall and Camberwell Green in London, the capital city where police recorded 165 knife or sharp object offences per 100,000 people throughout 2023.

As an MP, one of the hardest conversations any of us will have are with the victims of violent crime

Florence Eshalomi

It came second in national league tables to West Midlands Police across Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton, where Government figures show 180 offences involving knives or sharp objects per 100,000.

“Now as an MP, one of the hardest conversations any of us will have are with the victims of violent crime,” Ms Eshalomi said.

“I’ve sat in many front rooms holding grieving mothers and fathers, and they tell me about their loved ones who’ve been taken too soon, and with every hug and tear wiped away, I can feel their pain and the impacts that this has on the wider siblings and other family members.

“Crime rips communities apart leaving too many people vulnerable and open to exploitation, and one of the areas I’m proud of working on is on preventing abuse of gang-associated girls whose mistreatment is sadly just one example of why our streets need to be safer.

“The Home Secretary’s commitment to halving rates of violence against women and improving support for victims should be welcomed across the House.”

Perhaps most powerfully of all, she's spoken about her own experience arriving at the scene of a stabbing and has rightly demanded that we never allow ourselves to become desensitised to the tragedy of knife crime. As a fellow inner London MP (for Holborn and St Pancras), I know how much this is hurting our city, as it is towns and cities across the country

Sir Keir Starmer

In his speech to peers and MPs in the House of Lords, King Charles III set out the Government’s ambition to bolster community policing and give officers greater powers to tackle antisocial behaviour.

Responding to Ms Eshalomi’s speech, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Perhaps most powerfully of all, she’s spoken about her own experience arriving at the scene of a stabbing and has rightly demanded that we never allow ourselves to become desensitised to the tragedy of knife crime.

“As a fellow inner London MP (for Holborn and St Pancras), I know how much this is hurting our city, as it is towns and cities across the country.

“I know how much potential is lost and how many families fear that their child could be next, so be under no doubt, turning the tide on this violence is absolutely central – a key mission that this Government of service will take on.”

From the opposition benches, former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak said Ms Eshalomi was “so right” that MPs must not become “desensitised” to gang violence.

He said Ms Eshalomi had “campaigned bravely against gang violence, both in the London Assembly and in this House”.

Former Tory preventing abuse minister Karen Bradley turned her attention to domestic abuse and said: “I think about the work I did when I was in the Home Office on the violence against women and girls strategy and the work we did to strengthen our laws on domestic abuse, and I’m very pleased to see there is a bill in the address that we will be working on.

“All the while, you cannot stand still on this issue. It’s an issue we constantly have to keep moving on because I’m afraid perpetrators get wise and perpetrators work out ways to buck the system, so I’m very pleased to see that that was included.

“Also I’m pleased that there will be a new law on spiking (within the Crime and Policing Bill proposal), something that many, many of my colleagues were looking to introduce before we had the General Election.”