Commenting on Tony Blair’s speech today in which he argued that gun and knife crime is specifically a problem among young blacks, Liberal Democrat Party President and South London MP, Simon Hughes said:

“The Prime Minister is just plain wrong and over simplistic about gun and knife crime.

“Some of us live in the sorts of places where these attacks and tragedies happen and we know that the picture is much more complicated.

“Of course, only a minority of young people ever use a gun or a knife, but it is absolutely not limited to black youngsters.

“Many young people now getting caught up in gangs and violence on our streets are white, mixed race and Asian as well. The common factor is that they either think weapons are cool or they’re frightened and think it’s necessary to defend themselves. All the evidence shows that young people are the most frequent victims as well as perpetrators of these horrendous crimes.

“The solutions are complex, but personal and family responsibility, appropriate education and training, lots of constructive activity and a major increase in qualified youth workers would make a massive difference.”