Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner has warned Huddersfield youths that carrying knives increases the risk of harm to themselves.
Several high-profile murders have taken place in Huddersfield and Leeds over recent weeks and months including Harley Brown who was knifed to death in Aspley earlier this year. More recently, Leeds teenager Trust Junior Jordan Gangata was murdered in a knife attack at a party.
When asked what more can be done to tackle knife crime in West Yorkshire, Ms Rayner said: “We’ve got to tackle it first of all by making sure that young people know carrying a knife does not make you safe, it makes you more at risk.
“We’ve got to make sure that our streets feel safe and that young people feel safe on the streets so they don’t carry knives, that we’ve got those PCSOs and police. Neighbourhood policing is really important. Labour brought it in when it was in government and the difference there is the police officers know the young people, they know the area, people feel safe.
“I got off the train yesterday in Leeds and young people were running away from the police but what they should be doing is running to the police, knowing the local police officers and being able to approach them as they feel unsafe. We’ve got to tackle it by the nub, get rid of the criminality there and also push people to look at what they can do with their lives.
“Go to Leeds University, get good jobs, that’s what our growth plan about our economy going into the future around the green jobs is about giving the young people the opportunity so there’s a carrot and a stick. The carrot is here’s your opportunities, the stick is if you carry a knife, the police will make sure that that knife is seized and you will be dealt with and it’s not going to make you safe if you do that and we’ve got to educate our young people to understand that.”
The MP visited Huddersfield on 12 April on a whistlestop tour of the town centre and was shown plans for the £250m Blueprint by Leader of the Council Shabir Pandor, members of the council’s cabinet and prospective MP Harpreet Uppal. This comes as Labour has unveiled their five-point plan for high streets earlier this week.
Part of the plan includes a crackdown on anti-social behaviour with the party announcing they will get 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on UK streets and will be introducing tough new measures to crack down on anti-social behaviour that blights local high streets.
