London murders are the symptom of a knife crime ‘epidemic’ that shows no sign of ending in the UK

Analysis: Amid calls for a police crackdown on violence, officers fear the causes of bloodshed lie far out of their hands, writes Lizzie Dearden

Rising numbers of 'frightened' children are carrying knives in the belief it will protect them from their peers (PA)

The murders of five people, stabbed to death across London in the past week, have increased calls to tackle an “epidemic” of violence sweeping the UK.

But police who are battling record levels of knife crime in England and Wales fear the bloodshed is being driven by wider societal shifts that are far beyond their powers to control.

Ministers’ vocal support for police and new strategies for tackling violence have not yet been backed up by funding to reverse budget cuts which have resulted in the loss of more than 20,000 officers since 2010.

Even while the Metropolitan Police flooded areas affected by this week’s murders with personnel, the government was warned that national officer numbers could hit a record low if forces are made to plug a £600m funding shortfall caused by proposed pension changes.

Police chiefs wrote to ministers last month saying that up to 10,000 officers’ jobs could be cut after being told to find £165m in 2019-20 and up to £417m in 2020-21.

Home secretary Sajid Javid has vowed to fight for more police funding in an upcoming financial settlement and government-wide spending review, but for those witnessing the horrific spread of violence any change is likely to be seen as too little, too late.

As recently as 2015, his predecessor, Theresa May, told police officers to stop “crying wolf” and “scaremongering” over the impact of cuts.

Three years later, knife crime is at a record high – with 39,332 offences recorded in the year to June – and other violent crimes, including murder and robbery, are rising too.

The government has denied any causal link between police cuts and the increase in stabbings, but many senior officers blame austerity both for crippling the response to crime and gutting services charged with preventing it.

A report by the government cited changes to the drug market and social media incitement as key drivers of violence, while campaigners have pointed to slashed funding for youth clubs, children’s mental health, social services and increasing school exclusions.

Police say that violence is spreading through siblings and peer groups to ever-younger children, with nine- and 10-year-olds being caught carrying knives.

Nick Hunt, head of the Home Office’s serious violence unit, revealed last week that cases of knife possession had risen by a fifth in a year, and knife crime overall by 12 per cent.

“Knife possession cautions for 10- to 17-year-olds has gone up particularly steeply,” he added. “Serious violence is being driven particularly by under-18s, which is a concern.”

In the last five years the number of 10- to 17-year-olds admitted to the NHS with stab wounds has increased by 67 per cent.

And in the year to June, there were 69,000 incidents of child wounding across England to Wales and 29,000 child robbery victims.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick said the increase carrying of knives is turning what once would have been an after-school fist fight into murder.

“Some young people are carrying a knife because they feel frightened of other young people, and then when they are angry or feel threatened they use the knife,” she said last week.

Chief Constable Dave Thompson, of West Midlands Police, said the trend was concentrated in inner-city areas where children “feel insecure”, as rival groups use social media to taunt and threaten each other.

He asked: “When the government talks about early intervention in terms of violence it is absolutely right, but how are we going to do it?”