Oral Answers to Questions

Deirdre Costigan Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

As the Front-Bench spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats knows, that is not our plan, and we are clear that net migration needs to come down. It quadrupled under the previous Conservative Government in the space of just four years, and that number needs to come down. We believe we should support young people across this country, including through youth prevention partnerships.

[Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)]

T6. Exactly two weeks ago today, Dariusz Serafin tragically died from a knife wound on the streets of West Ealing—on a road long blighted by antisocial behaviour, about which I had written to the police just the week before. How will the Government’s new respect orders and the crackdown on knives help bring reassurance to my constituents in West Ealing?

[The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention (Dame Diana Johnson)]

I am very sorry to hear about the incident to which my hon. Friend refers. She will know that we have a commitment to halve knife crime over the next decade. We have already introduced the ban on zombie knives and machetes, and we are moving forward with the ban on ninja swords. Last week, the Home Secretary announced the new measures under Ronan’s law to tighten the lethal loopholes in the online sale of knives, and we are developing the Young Futures programme, with prevention partnerships at their heart, to stop young people getting involved in knife crime.