• I WAS honoured to join the organisers and attendees at the “March Against Violence”.

Speaking to a mother who has lost her sons to this nightmare was heart-breaking and humbling in equal measure, and I fully intend to carry the message of the grieving to Westminster.

The recent wave of knife violence has pushed many in our communities to the point of despair, and I see addressing this issue in parliament as a moral imperative.

The banner at the front of the march was “Stop the Violence. Invest in our Youth” – and that is the message I will deliver in this week’s debate on the funding of police and local government.

Far too many have been made to suffer the consequences of the estrangement that is exacerbated by cuts to youth services and community facilities.

They have seen how malicious individuals prey on and attack young people who should have their whole lives ahead of them.

Stopping the violence will require a compassionate strategy that puts the bereaved at its heart, something that we all agree on.

However we can’t ignore the second demand of the march, to “invest in our youth”, simply because it is convenient to find solutions in an environment of political consensus. We must treat the disease as well as the symptoms.

The recent murders should prompt a drastic change of policy and attitude towards a generation that is being deprived of the opportunities they require to flourish.

Ensuring our police are properly resourced will provide reassurance that our streets are safe to walk at night, and will deter those who would commit violent crimes.

But to provide a genuine safety net and to ensure all our young people have a future, we need to see minimum standards for youth provision in every local authority.

If this requires wholesale investment from central government, then so be it. The intolerable violence we have seen in recent weeks must not be allowed to continue. Our future generations deserve better.

TULIP SIDDIQ MP
Labour, Hampstead & Kilburn