Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has asked the Prime Minister to convene a COBRA meeting in response to the increase in knife attacks in the UK in the last 12 months.
The Government does not intend to convene a COBRA meeting at this time to discuss knife crime. The Prime Minister hosted a Serious Youth Violence Summit at 10 Downing Street on 1 to 4 April, at which she brought together victims’ representatives, young people, community leaders, charities, faith leaders, businesses, police, health professionals, Ministers and others to focus on what more can be done.
The new Taskforce will be chaired by the Prime Minister, supported by a new, dedicated, serious violence team in the Cabinet Office, to support cross-departmental action on serious violence. This will ensure that there is a clear focus right across Government, and the necessary coordination across Departments, to ensure that everything possible is being done to tackle knife crime and serious violence.