Changes to how Police are allowed to use stop and search powers are contributing to the increase in numbers of people being stabbed to death, an MP has warned.
Shipley MP Philip Davies said politicians must stop interfering in Police matters and allow them to do their job.
Speaking in Home Office questions he said: “Changes to stop and search rules have led to an increase in the number of deaths through knife crime. I want a commitment that government will let the Police, our excellent Police Force, get on with doing their job without them having one hand or both hands tied behind their backs by politicians trying to flex their politically correct muscles sticking their nose in where it is not needed.”
At least 35 people have been fatally stabbed in London since the beginning of the year, more than New York. In 2014 when she was Home Secretary Theresa May made it harder to stop and search people amid concerns black and ethnic minority people were being targeted.
Mr Davies called for action from the now Prime Minister saying no one should die because of a politically correct drive.
According to Stop Watch monitoring group West Yorkshire Police carried out 25 per cent fewer searches in the year up to March 2017 but there was an increase of more than 400 offences involving knives or sharp objects.
Home Office Minister Nick Hurd said: “With respect there is absolutely no evidence to support his first assertion, in fact when we last saw a big decline in knife attacks and violent crime that coincided with a fall in stop and search but what I will say is that we see it emphatically as a vital tool in the Police armoury as part of the robust law enforcement we want to see but we have been clear it needs to be used legally, targeted and intelligence led and ideally supported by body worn video.”