Bristol general election candidates say national service ‘won’t help reduce knife crime’

Bristol general election candidates have said plans to return to national service will not reduce knife crime. A Labor candidate claimed the Tories’ plan was a “throwaway”, while a Green candidate called for more investment in youth clubs.

If the Tories win the general election on Thursday, July 4, then 18-year-olds will have to take part in national service. By law they would have to volunteer for the emergency services or enroll in a military training scheme, both for a 12-month period.

But parliamentary candidates in Bristol have rejected these plans and put forward other proposals to help tackle knife crime, a growing problem in the city. They were quizzed about their plans on the BBC’s Politics West programme.

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Karin Smyth, the current Labor candidate for Bristol South, said: “It’s a throwaway gimmick and it’s not relevant. You should sort out the apprenticeship levy and give skills to young people, that would be much better. We want to ban certain types of heinous weapons.

“We want to catch some of these bad guys, mostly men who look after young children in this and make sure there is a criminal sanction against them. We want to give young people better youth services and better support so they don’t fall for it.”

Carla Denyer, Greens candidate for Bristol Central, added: “As a Bristolian, I know all too well how devastating the results of knife crime are. There were three separate knife murders last weekend alone. But I don’t think national service is the answer. It’s not what young people need, and neither do the military.

“What will help young people is good quality youth services and the national government stepping up efforts to support those youth services and community projects that give children somewhere productive, safe and supportive to spend their time – as well as making sure young people get the mental health support they need.”

Several young people have lost their lives in Bristol so far this year in an epidemic of knife crime. Some stabbings have previously been linked by Avon and Somerset police to two east Bristol gangs.

Knife crime has had an unprecedented effect on Bristol and earlier this year Bristol Live launched the ‘Together for Change’ campaign to try to prevent more lives being lost. We are working with local media, charities, community leaders and organizations to do all we can to make Bristol a safer place for everyone.

The Conservative candidate appearing on the program has defended the plan to bring back national service as the proposal would “give young people more skills”. Another problem is the backlog in the criminal courts which leads to long delays in sentencing anyone caught.

Meg Powell-Chandler, Tory candidate for Wells and Mendip Hills, said: “We need to have a holistic approach, which includes tough sentences but also making sure children go to school and mentoring, which is a great way to to make sure people do’. I’m not going the wrong way. I think national service would be a good thing because it’s about giving young people more skills and experience that they can then use to get on in life.”

Claire Young, Liberal Democrat candidate for Thornbury and Yate, added: “Extremely long queues are not a deterrent if you don’t think you’ll be caught in the first place. And when you are caught, victims wait months or even years for justice because of backlogs in our courts.

“We would invest in community policing so you see the police on the streets. That’s how you discourage people, thinking there’s a chance they’ll get caught. And we need to invest in resolving this backlog in the courts so that justice is swift and fair.”