MP Sarah Owen calls on Home Secretary to support Luton News’ campaign to ‘Bin Your Blade’

The demands from the Luton North MP come following the tragic death of 16-year-old Humza Hussain, who was stabbed outside Challney High School for Boys last month.

Knife crime in the UK reached its highest level on record in 2019-20 with over 50,090 offences, having almost doubled since 2013-14 when 25,588 offences were recorded.

In the past decade, some 21,000 police officers have also been cut across the country.

Ms Owen has vowed to support Luton News' campaign and to continue raising concerns about gang exploitation and knife crime in Parliament.

She wrote to the Home Secretary: "Humza’s death understandably sent a shockwave through our community in Luton North.

"No parent should have to receive that phone call telling them that their child has lost their life in such a violent, preventable way.

"Luton’s local newspaper Luton Today is now leading a campaign encouraging young people in our town to ‘Bin Your Blade’. Knife crime, of course, is not a menace unique to Luton. It was at record levels in the UK before the first lockdown.

"I support their campaign to encourage people in power to get to the root of the problem of gangs and knife crime and not simply put the onus on the police to have all the answers as we seek to remove weapons from our community.

"It is time to get knives off our streets and out of the hands of our young people once and for all. In your response to this letter, please could you offer your support to Luton Today important campaign, and can you explain what your government is doing to tackle knife crime in my region?"

Speaking to Luton Todayt earlier, Ms Owen added: “This government has been shockingly complacent about knife crime. I’ll work with whoever wants to get knives out of the lives of our young people.

“We’ve seen police and youth services cut by the Tories at a time when knife crime is at an all time high. Young people in Luton deserve so much better.

“I want to bring our community together to take on this terrible situation, because one child losing their life to knife crime is one life too many.”