I have received an update from the Home Secretary on the measures the Government is taking to tackle serious violence:
“Tackling serious violence is a top priority for the Government. We must do whatever we can to stop the terrible murders and stabbings we have seen on our streets. The Government’s Serious Violence Strategy, published in April 2018, set out a very significant programme of work, however, it has become clear that we must go further in view of the continuing level of violence, especially after the fatal stabbings of teenagers we have seen in recent weeks. That is why the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Spring Statement today that there will be £100 million additional funding in 2019/20 to tackle serious violence, including £80m of new funding from the Treasury. This builds on the roundtable I had with senior police officers last week, where I asked them about the resources they needed to fight violent crime.
That is why the majority of the investment will largely go towards supporting police forces, especially where violent crime is impacting the most. These forces will take immediate steps to make our streets safer through an increased operational presence and patrolling supported with better intelligence.
It is also important that we recognise that greater law enforcement on its own will not reduce serious violence. We must continue to focus on prevention. That is why this funding will also support multi-agency Violence Reduction Units. In crime hotspot areas, and elsewhere, the new units will bring all the necessary interests and sectors together locally to focus on the effective measures that must be taken. We will prioritise investment in targeted police capacity to tackle serious violence and support for Violence Reduction Units in our Spending Review discussions.
The announcement today follows the largest annual increase in police funding in England and Wales since 2010 through the 2019/20 police settlement. It represents an increase in total police funding of up to £970 million if all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) use the full precept flexibility we have provided. I am very pleased to see that the vast majority of PCCs are making use of their full precept flexibility. Many are proposing to use this increase in funding to support additional recruitment, including almost 3000 new police officers.
The first role of Government is to protect the public and that is why I will always be on the side of the police and why we are taking determined action to stop serious violence.“
March 16, 2019
What an appalling time this has taken, this should have been acted on as soon as it was obvious, which as the families effected by this shame are well aware.
I have to say that this would not have been tolerated for a moment under the last Mayor of London.
Those responsible for what can only be described as showing indifference, at best down right incompetents, should be named and shamed, and thrown out
March 16, 2019
I have no time for Mayor Khan, but this isn’t just a London crime problem, it’s a nation-wide cultural problem.
We have bred a generation of people, a significant part of which have an all-pervasive sense of entitlement, no morality, and no responsibility.
The police can’t do everything. They can only react to specific incidents and acts of criminality. Too often they are called upon to play the role of social worker to the disadvantage of the rest of us who are left without adequate cover. And we all know who to blame for that one!
More broadly, I blame the system that the ineffectual politicians have allowed to flourish. The fact that liberalism has been allowed to diminish everything it touches. A drift away from the family unit, to a lack of discipline in schools, to a lack of meaningful deterrent sentences for acts of wanton criminality. It is time to teach those who do not respect others, where they are going wrong, and we can’t do that unless we get tough on the dross!
Tad Davison
Cambridge
March 17, 2019
“It is also important that we recognise that greater law enforcement on its own will not reduce serious violence.”
Excuse me, but what doesn’t he understand about “greater law enforcement”? By definition it must reduce serious violence or else he has failed to implement it.