SIR Keir Starmer will make it a “moral mission” to halve the number of knife crime incidents within ten years.
The Labour leader will outline a five-point plan to end the scourge of the street menace blighting our youngsters.
Proposals include backing custodial sentences for the most serious cases of knife possession with tougher sanctions also being drawn up.
A scheme will be set up to identify at-risk youngsters to support them in turning their life away from knife crime.
Any future Labour Ministers will extend the list of blades banned for possession and there will be a ‘rapid review’ of online knife sales.
Figures show knife offending is up 81 per cent since 2015 with sharp increases outside major towns and cities.
There has been a 110 per cent rise in cases in Cleveland, a 122 per cent hike in Hertfordshire and a 107 per cent hike in Staffordshire.
His intervention comes after a spate of high-profile stabbings including two 12-year-old boys convicted for murder.
Stabbing sprees have also taken place in both Bournemouth and Epsom, Surrey, that have horrified the nation.
The Labour leader has vowed to chair an annual knife crime summit if elected as he says the issue is “above and beyond party politics.
Sir Keir said: “Knife crime is an issue above and beyond party politics.
“For the parents grieving sons and daughters who never came home, action to end this scourge cannot wait.
“Far too often we hear the same stories from grieving families who have been subject to these brutal murders carried out by children.
“It is our duty as political leaders of all stripes to work together to end knife crime and keep our young people safe.
“Cutting knife crime will be a moral mission for the next Labour government.
“Our new cross-government coalition will put knife crime victims and their families at the heart of government, working with us to take the strongest action in a generation to end this tragic crime.”
By THOMAS GODFREY
Knife crime has terrifyingly soared by 81 per cent in a decade, official figures show.
Crimes involving deadly blades climbed from 27,000 in 2013 to almost 50,000 last year – the second-worst year on record.
London is the UK’s hot spot for knife violence with an all-time high 21 teenagers knifed to death in the capital last year.
And earlier this year 14-year-old schoolboy Daniel Anjorin was hacked to death with a machete in Hainault, North East London.
Two 12-year-olds, who can’t be named for legal reasons, were also convicted of the horrific machete killing of Shawn Seesahai in Wolverhampton earlier this month.
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