Ministers must get a grip on knife crime - Huhne

2.17.00pm GMT Thu 22nd Jan 2009

Commenting on today’s British Crime Survey figures, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "The Government has failed to roll out effectively the measures that we know work against knife crime."

“Hospitals are not yet cooperating with the police in enough areas to highlight the hot spots for knife crime, and there is not enough intelligence-led searching in risk areas.

“There is already a potential 4-year prison sentence for knife-carrying, so posturing about penalties is no substitute for the hard graft of visible and intensive policing that reassures local communities, collects intelligence and evidence, and catches those who threaten and use knifes.

“Ministers are too complacent on falling crime, since crime has been dropping in every western European country except Belgium over the last ten years mainly because of better security and falling numbers of young men.

“There is now clear evidence of rising acquisitive crime as the recession bites.”