British government vows to tackle 'scourge' of deadly knife-crime

Critics blame austerity measures for spike in violence as Prime Minister Theresa May calls 'summit' on fatal stabbings.British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced a summit with government ministers, police and community leaders to tackle a surge in knife crimes after two teenagers were stabbed to death over the weekend. Speaking in the United Kingdom's parliament on Wednesday, May said she would hold the meeting "in the coming days" to explore "what more we can do as a whole society to tackle this problem"."A growing number of young people have lost their lives in a cycle of mindless violence that has shocked us all," May said, adding: "We will only defeat the scourge of violence if we understand and address the complex root causes."The issue of deadly knife crime has dominated the UK's news agenda this week, after 17-year-old Jodie Chesney was killed in a London park on Friday, and Yousef Ghaleb Maliki, also 17, died in a knife attack in the northwestern city of Manchester the following day.Their deaths bring the number of teenagers killed in knife attacks within England this year to at least 10.Meanwhile, government figures published last month show a record high of 285 people in England and Wales were killed by a knife or sharp instrument in the year leading up to March 2018, the latest period for which annual figures have been published. The figure marks the highest number of such killings within a 12-month period since records began in 1946.The main opposition Labour Party said the surge in knife-crime amounted to a "national emergency" and called on May to "tackle this crisis now".NATIONAL EMERGENCY: Recorded violent crime has doubled under the Tories, while they slashed funding to the police and youth services.