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Sajid Javid says he could have been drawn into a life of crime

‘There were pupils at my school who shoplifted and they asked me if I wanted to help,’ says home secretary

Benjamin Kentish
Political Correspondent
Monday 15 April 2019 11:35 BST
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Sajid Javid admits he worries about his daughters becoming victims of knife crime

Sajid Javid said he fears his own children could become victims of the recent spate of knife crime – and claimed he could have had a life of crime himself.

The home secretary said he did not feel secure on Britain’s streets and did not think they were safe for his children, adding that he could not help but see the faces of his own children in the pictures of stabbing victims.

In an unusually personal speech, Mr Javid admitted that he had “stayed up late at night many times” waiting for his teenage children to return home. He has three daughters and one son.

The home secretary, who is seen as one of the frontrunners to succeed Theresa May as prime minister, said violent crime should be treated as a national emergency as he admitted: “Something has gone terribly wrong.”

The number of fatal stabbings hit record highs last year, with 285 recorded across England and Wales in 2017-18.

Speaking in east London, Mr Javid said it was his duty as home secretary to protect the public but added: “What affects me more is my job as a father.”

He continued: “Like everyone else I see the reports of young people feeling the need to carry weapons. It makes me worry about my own teenage children: will they be hurt if they’re out in the wrong place at the wrong time? What if they get into an argument that then escalates?

“I may be the home secretary but I’m not ashamed to confess that I have stayed up late at night many times waiting for the key to turn in the front door and only then going to bed safe in the knowledge that my children are home.”

He added: “Like any other dad, when I watch the news and I see the faces of all those young victims of knife crime, I despair at the waste of those lives. Many of those lost are a similar age to my own children and so sometimes I cannot help but see the faces of my own children in the pictures of those many victims.

“I find it hard to detach the personal from the policy, so I know that if I don’t feel safe on the streets, if I don’t feel the streets feel safe enough for my own children, or if we see our communities being torn apart by crime, then something has gone terribly wrong.”

Mr Javid insisted the government was trying to tackle violent crime with a number of measures, including the allocation of more funding for police officers and the tightening of laws on the sale of knives and dangerous acids.

He also defended the use of controversial stop-and-search powers, saying the policy has saved lives.

Explaining the government’s decision to give police officers more freedom to use the searches, he said: “I know that this is not universally welcome – there is concern that in enforcing these powers, Bame communities will be affected disproportionately.

“But we must also acknowledge that the violence disproportionately impacts Bame communities too, and if stop-and-search rates drop too low, it does then perhaps create a culture of immunity among those who wish to carry knives.

“Stop and search saves lives. There are people who are alive today because of stop and search and I cannot say this clearly enough.”

Home Secretary Sajid Javid announces new stop and search powers to combat knife crime

Mr Javid, the son of a bus driver, said he could have been lured into a life of crime were it not for his parents and teachers.

He said: “I grew up in what one tabloid dubbed Britain’s most dangerous street. It’s not so difficult to see how, instead of being in the cabinet, I could have actually turned out to have a life of crime myself.

“There were pupils at my school who shoplifted and they asked me if I wanted to help. There were drug addicts who stood near my school gates and told me that if I joined in, I too could make some easy money.

“But I was lucky: I had loving and supporting parents who despite their own circumstances, gave me the security that I needed. I had some brilliant teachers who motivated me and took me much further than I think even they expected.”

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