Idris Elba is backing our anti-knife crime campaign and wants other celebs to help halt the deadly epidemic.
The Hollywood star, 46, said of the rising violence: “It’s killing kids at an alarming rate. As a nation, we have to do something.”
The Mirror is campaigning for action after the deaths of 17-year-olds Jodie Chesney, from Dagenham, East London, and Yousef Makki, from Burnage, South Manchester.
Idris said: “It’s really about raising awareness. Anyone who wants to raise awareness I’ll support. There’s people dying, it’s got to be important to everyone.”
'My friend called at 6am to say her son was dead - we must end knife crime now'
Knife crime levels have reached a new high with more than 285 fatal stabbings in the past year, the most since records began in 1946. More than 4,200 under-18s were caught carrying a knife in the same period.
Idris, who grew up on a council estate in Hackney, East London, said: “The rates are worse than any war. These kids are really going at it.
“The more people who raise the alarm, the more awareness there is. Hopefully they’ll begin to understand what might happen to them. Apart from dying, it just destroys their lives, and their families’ lives.”
Tory MP says knife crime targets could protect themselves by 'being fitter'
Idris was at the National Film Awards in London, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words Don’t Stab Your Future.
He called on other celebs to speak up, saying: “There’s an alarm ringing and people aren’t making enough noise.
“There are a lot of celebrities who have amazing platforms. Say something.”
While Idris supports the Mirror for raising awareness, he stresses the need for a long, “delicate” conversation about solutions. For him the priority is to just “ring the alarm”.
He said: “We need to really put our heads together. People have tried for decades. There was knife crime when I was a teenager, and we still haven’t found an answer.”
The Mirror's five demands
1. Police
Numbers have been cut by 20,000 under the Tories. We need more beat officers with extra powers.
2. Reverse the cuts to youth services
Since 2011, these have been cut by 44%. Scotland halted the increase in knife crime by giving young people help with education, training and housing.
3. Schools
Every secondary must teach kids the dangers of carrying weapons.
4. Tackle the underlying problems
Children excluded from school are twice as likely to carry a knife. Pupil Referral Units have become “finishing schools” for gangs and must be improved.
5. Knife crime tsar
One person to coordinate response to knife crime with councils, police and schools.
.jpg?w=600)
