A Youth MP from Camden said knife crime is “rooted in poverty, inequality and a lack of opportunity” in an impassioned interview on ITV news.
Athian Akec delivered a rousing speech to UK Youth Parliament last week which has since been picked up by major news outlets.
In the House of Commons, he said: “As knife crime claims more lives within our country, never has so much been lost by so many because of the indecision of so few”.
Following up on the speech, he went on to call for a shift in the conversation around knife crime to the issues that lead to offences being committed, such as austerity, poverty and a lack of opportunity for a lot of London’s young people.
London killings are set to hit a 10-year high after deaths in 2018 exceed the whole of last year.
121 people have been killed in the capital so far this year, which will be the highest rate since 2008.
Watch the clip in full below:
Knife crime is rooted in “poverty, inequality and a lack of opportunity” here’s what I had to say on issue on @ITV news pic.twitter.com/oJMttC7Eyb
— Athian Akec MYP (@athianakec_myp) November 14, 2018
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