Florence Eshalomi

I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) for securing this important debate and for his powerful speech. The devastating impact of knife crime is felt at the heart of my Vauxhall and Camberwell Green constituency. The most heartbreaking thing I do as an MP is speak to a parent who has just heard that their precious son or daughter has been taken away far too young by knife crime. No parent should have to bury their child. When I sit there trying to comfort a family through something so horrific, I glance over their shoulders and see the pictures of that smiling face—of the innocent young life that has been robbed. I should never have to get used to that, but we all have to do it as Members of Parliament. My hon. Friend the Member for Clapham and Brixton Hill (Bell Ribeiro-Addy) highlighted some of the statistics, and as awful as they are in their own right, we must remember in talking about them that someone loved every single one of them—a friend, an aunt, an uncle, a brother, a grandparent, a mother, a sister, a family. They are now devastated about losing someone who had barely started their life. Let me touch on the wider impact of knife crime on communities, which we do not focus on enough. When I was on the London Assembly, I authored the “Gang Associated Girls” report, in which we considered the impact that knife crime can have on girls and young women, who, if we are honest, may not often be viewed as the immediate victims of knife crime but who go through long-term trauma as a result of their experiences. In a number of incidents, it is young women and girls who are the first at the scene. It is the same young women and girls who help the community grieve. It is the same young women and girls who organise the funerals. And when the glare of the media has gone and the incident is out of the news cycle, it is the same young women and girls who go back to lay flowers at the cemetery, remembering the key anniversaries. Even if those young women and girls are not presenting at hospital after knife crime, we must remember that this is also about their long-term trauma. It is important that we do not forget their voices in this debate. That is why we need a holistic approach to address this issue. The whole community needs to come together if we are to break the vicious cycle of knife crime and the chain of trauma that impacts so many of our young people, robbing them of their future. It saddens me that just a few weeks ago there was a tragic shooting in my constituency, and in line of sight from a playground at a primary school was the blue line that says, “Police line do not cross”. Imagine the impact on those children. It is vital that we continue to work across parties to address knife crime. It is not about politics; it is about young people dying on our streets up and down the country. I am pleased to see the Government committing to the Young Futures programme, which will champion the vital youth workers who are the lifeline that many of these young people need. If we are honest, those youth workers have not been paid properly, and many have lost their jobs and seen their youth centres close. We need to continue speaking about this, and I know that the Government will continue to work with us to make sure we address the vicious cycle that is robbing so many of our young people of their lives.