Hardcore pornography and video games partly to blame for surge in violent crime, says Diane Abbott

'I just think some young people, the video games they play, the stuff they see online, it may desensitise them to violence'

Exposure to extreme imagery could be partly to blame, shadow home secretary said (Getty)

Hardcore pornography and video games are contributing to the rise in violent crime by desensitising young people to vicious behaviour, Diane Abbott has said.

The shadow home secretary said boys as young as eight were accessing online pornography and suggested that exposure to extreme imagery could be partly to blame for violent crime.

Her comments come as Theresa May faced a mounting backlash over her dismissal of a link between a spate of fatal stabbings and the police cuts she presided over at the Home Office.

Home secretary Sajid Javid has rowed in behind calls from senior police chiefs for more cash to pay for additional officers – but the prime minister and chancellor Philip Hammond have so far rejected the demands.

Ms May announced plans for a knife crime summit after a number of deaths, including 17-year-olds Jodie Chesney, in London, and Yousef Ghaleb Makki, in Manchester, at the weekend. The recent tragedies have sparked a heated debate over police numbers, which have dropped by more than 20,000 over the past decade.

“I’m not one for blaming the media or blaming music and drill videos or whatever, but culturally, there is a sense in which sometimes we are desensitised to violence,” Ms Abbott told The House magazine.

“I just think some young people, the video games they play, the stuff they see online, it may desensitise them to violence.

“I wouldn’t say that’s the main cause of violent crime, I would say the main causes are really economic and to do with what’s happening in the education system.”

She argued that violent and hardcore pornography was a contributing factor, particular with young children viewing extreme content online.

The Hackney North MP said: “You’ve got your smartphone, you can see stuff you could have never have seen at that age.

“Normally, you would have had to have gone into a news agency and they would have said, ‘I’m not selling you that, you’re only eight, go away’.

“There is an argument that exposure to hardcore pornography is connected with violence. I wouldn’t say that’s the main thing. That’s a thread and it’s something that’s there.”

However, last month a major study found no evidence to link violent games with real-world aggressive behaviour. The alleged connection “hasn’t tested very well over time”, University of Oxford researchers said.

Ms Abbott accused the government of being too weak on tech giants such as Google and Twitter, saying the social media firms should be compelled to take down extreme content more quickly.

When asked what Labour would do to combat violence she replied: “In terms of policing, we’ve already said that we want to recruit more police.

“We are committed to putting more into education and local government. Those kinds of public service issues, our approach is to try and put the investment in.”

The shadow cabinet member also used the interview to warn MPs that Leave would again if there was a Final Say referendum – despite Labour’s official policy being to support such a move.

When asked for her personal opinion on a second referendum, she said: “Well, it forms part of our policy that a second referendum is something that we are prepared to consider.

“I would say, and I have said that a second referendum, people need to be careful what they wish for.

“The danger is that Remain wouldn’t necessarily win, that Leave would win again. But the majority of party members support it and so I think it’s the right move for the leadership of the Labour party to respect that.”