To think a National Emergency should be called by Starmer?

[Netcurtainnelly]

https://news.sky.com/story/woman-critically-injured-after-being-stabbed-in-neck-in-unprovoked-attack-13466219

Another Stabbing, its daily now.

Country's been allowed to get out of hand.
Should Starmer address it?

Yes. Schools have started installing those metal detector gates, in some areas. Utterly shocking.

https://news.sky.com/story/schools-must-be-brave-enough-to-talk-about-knives-as-harvey-willgooses-killer-is-sentenced-13454846

It’s awful, as any stabbing is, but what’s the emergency? 🤔

Violence against women is visibly increasing all over the country and all women on mumsnet can do is argue about knife crime stats. Shameful.

I dont go out alone after dark now, unless im driving...but not to worry, knife crime is down...yay!!!

Some schools have had knife arches for years. Sad but true.

Well I mean that does mean you're statistically less likely to be stabbed, so that is actually a good thing

Knife crime has always been an issue and the media always blows it up out of all proportions. I remember it being all over the news in the 00s, in London particularly. If you’re naturally quite anxious I just suggest staying away from the news, it’s always negative and always the most dramatic stories because it sells. The chance of anyone getting attacked is extremely low.

Calm down, dear!

We can't get rid of Labour. They are the government for the next 3-4 years.

Because you have to take into account how many people are not reporting/how many people are questioned/what questions are asked for the stats

how is crime reported now, if not an absolute emergency on line or leaving a message and getting a call back people often feel they can’t reply on the police services now

how actual crimes are reported for stars (knife injuries accidental/partner violence/gang related violence/stranger) change the wording you get a very different result

again look at the police personnel experiences, how public report crime, reports from prisons, probation, mh services

it is not a clear picture that crime is falling it’s a picture that services are over stretched

I firmly place this at cutting of services that have an impact on crime and how crime is handled

Yeah you hear a lot more
We have a 24 hour news cycle and a right wing owned media who want people scared. They want their guys in power as it's furthers their interests mores than Labour.

YANBU.
Train knifeman reported a day earlier for taking knife in barber shop, so police informed but didn’t follow up until next day - a day too late.
London felt unsafe for the first time last Christmas and we were in the touristy/shopping parts so we’re not going this year. We were uncomfortable being there.
i would hate to have a teenager (especially a boy) in a big city (especially London).
Knife crime is out of control and our perception has changed - 20 or 30 years we’d be appalled and angry.

I don’t think this is called for. Some of us on here do live in the cities (and the districts) of high knife crime. We see it. I teach pupils effected by it. Nationally statistics may be lower - but like a PP, I question the complication of statistics - in my lives experience, it’s still a fear.

The OP maybe getting a pile on due to their original phrasing and questioning but can we please not mock them.

You couldn't find data to support your perception, so the data is wrong? Is that what you're saying?

Quite. Call me cynical but there a chance this supposed ‘fall in knife crime’ could be attributed to a new way of counting knife crime or some other official massaging of the stats. It’s just not ringing true with people’s reported experiences.

No what we are seeing has always happened what we are seeing now is it being reported more to feed a certain agenda by some. I’m fed up of hearing it’s not safe anywhere. I feel safe where I live, I felt safe when I went London recently.

Your own words were that school stabbings were unheard of. This is clearly untrue.

Mail ran a piece about "what to do if you are stabbed", they are reporting every incident of knife crime and even ones that happen in other countries if the suspect can be described as an immigrant. If the Mail were a person's only source of news and if they read it uncritically, they would be in an almost permanent state of anxiety

Might you have missed the recent revelations that the BBC have been proven to be big fat lying liars? They can’t be trusted.

I'm not saying anyone being stabbed is great, but knife crime isn't new. You could cherry pick cases from 10, 20, 30 years ago that would be especially shocking and were reported on then. Weapons amnesties have run on adhoc occasions for decades. I'm open to debate, but to declare a national emergency would be bizarre; it's not suddenly jumped recently. It's remained fairly static, except for lockdown when it decreased.

It doesn’t matter what just what the facts say, it’s also how people feel.

Makes you wonder about the agendas behind those making people more fearful, doesn't it.🤔 Feeling are easy to manipulate.

The Ben Kinsella Trust reports a 64% increase in Police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the last 10 years (comparing June 2025 to March 2016)

https://benkinsella.org.uk/knife-crime-statistics/

So how are other sources claiming that knife crime is down? Unless they have redefined key words for political purposes?

Yes, because of the internet and a 24 hour news cycle.

And rape offences have gone up.

As a statistician I agree that it is always wise to approach statistics with caution and think about how they have been calculated and whether any bias has been introduced. You are, however, falling into the trap of placing too much emphasis on information that is likely to be biased when you say:

people can now more openly share their experiences, Then there is people who work on services who are openly reporting they have never had to deal with so many crimes/victims/perpetrators (and on limited budgets)

Firstly are the people who work in these services who might be finding that the numbers of crimes/victims/perpetrators is the same or falling as likely to be posting on social media as those who find it's rising and they're struggling? I would expect not.

Secondly, are the numbers of people working in these roles the same, increasing or falling in line with the population? I would suggest that with continuing austerity cuts, it's likely to be falling, which could go some way to explaining why these services are struggling with demand.

I don't mean to suggest that it's not important to listen to the opinions of people who are experiencing issues first hand, that is of course important. What we shouldn't be doing though, is taking these personal experiences and trying to suggest that they indicate a national trend. The statistics from ONS may not be flawless, but the way they are collected will be determined as the best way possible by highly trained professionals and I'd believe those over a general feeling about a situation from reading posts online. (I don't work for the ONS, so have no bias there)

I'm in my 70s. Went to a well thought of grammar school. When I was 15 one of the girls in the year below me stabbed a boy from the boys grammar school next door. It didn't get a mention on the news or local papers. Still happened.