Idris Elba hits out at MPs’ knife crime response: ‘They’re not qualified to know what’s going on on the streets’

Actor and campaigner Idris Elba has it out at MPs’ response to knife crime.

The government has announced its third attempted crackdown on zombie knives since 2016 in a bid to “close loopholes” in its ban.

When asked if he thinks politicians have a proper understanding of the issues around knife crime, Idris Elba told BBC Breakfast on Thursday (25 January): “I really can’t talk about what politicians think or don’t think.

“Just because they’re a politician doesn’t make them qualified to know what’s going on on the streets.

“But the streets do, the communities do, the mothers and the victims do, and what we need to do is listen to them as well, we need to understand.”