Responding to the Home Secretary’s plan to give new powers to the police to tackle knife crime, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:

The UK is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic, so all ideas should be considered, especially ways to stop the glorification and incitement of this violence on social media.

But Ministers must remember that ASBOs have a very mixed record – they were often seen as a “badge of honour’ by young offenders and required significant police resources which no longer exist thanks to the Conservatives’ police cuts.

Worse still, this plan ignores the evidence and the policy of the current Justice Secretary, that short term prison sentences won’t deter young people from carrying knives and instead increase the risk of re-offending.

Ministers must follow the evidence not chase the headlines.

The victims of knife crime and their families deserve better and Liberal Democrats demand better for them. We will recruit more officers to restore community policing and invest in a proper public health approach that brings together youth services, community groups, schools and the NHS to tackle this shocking rise in violent crime.

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