We’ve got to get to the root causes of why young people carry knives says Bath’s MP Wera Hobhouse.
Her call came during Business Questions in Parliament when she also expressed her condolences to the family and friends of 16-year-old Mikey Roynon who tragically died over the past weekend after a fatal stabbing in her constituency.
Mrs Hobhouse called on Parliamentarians to do their “utmost to get to the root causes of why young people are carrying knives” and to also work with “stakeholders and police forces across the country to erase this blight on our communities”.
In response, the Leader of the House, Penny Mordaunt, joined with the Bath MP in expressing her condolences, saying their sentiments reflected that of “the whole House”. Mordaunt went on to say that knife crime is “an important matter for all” Parliamentarians and that tackling this issue “has been a focus of the work of the Home Secretary”.
Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath, commented:
“I would like to once again reiterate my condolences to Mikey’s friends and family. I cannot imagine the pain they are going through.
“The news has distressed many of us here in Bath and I have been contacted by lots of parents who are understandably worried about their children. Of course, all of us want answers immediately but we must give the police space to conduct their investigation and I have full confidence in the police to provide those answers.
“We need to learn from this tragedy and focus our efforts on tackling the blight of knives being carried by young people in our communities. This is a national challenge and Bath needs to step up to it.”
The exchange between Wera Hobhouse MP and the Leader of the House can be found here.
This stabbing followed another tragedy in the city last month when 18 year old Ben Moncrieff died shortly after being critically injured during an incident in Southgate Street.
A fifteen year old boy from South London – who cannot be named for legal reasons – has been charged with murder and possession of a bladed article.
