Sajid Javid directly contradicts Theresa May over knife crime after admitting crisis is linked to police resources

PM provoked fury when she insisted there was ‘no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers’

Sajid Javid has directly contradicted Theresa May over knife crime, saying police resources are “very important” to quelling rising violence.

The home secretary said he will do “everything I can” to make sure police get resources they need, despite the prime minister having denied a link between officer numbers and a series of fatal stabbings at the weekend.

Ms May provoked fury and continues to face backlash from senior policing figures and political opponents over her claims that there was “no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers”.

It came as Mr Javid held an emergency knife-crime summit with police chiefs and other senior figures in a bid to show the government is getting a grip of the issue and taking funding concerns seriously, with Ms May to hold a further summit in the coming days.

Speaking after his meeting on Wednesday, Mr Javid said: “I think police resources are very important to deal with this.

“We’ve got to do everything we can. I’m absolutely committed to working with the police in doing this We have to listen to them when they talk about resources.”

His comments come after he was reported to have clashed with Ms May and Philip Hammond at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday over his demands for funding increases for police.

Mr Javid said ministers were committed to creating a statutory public health duty to support efforts to reduce violent crime, in line with efforts in Scotland that have drastically reduced violence in Glasgow.

“I want serious violence to be treated by all parts of government, all parts of the public sector, like a disease,” he said.

The summit comes after the deaths of 17-year-old Jodie Chesney, in London, and Yousef Ghaleb Makki, in Manchester, at the weekend, which sparked a heated debate over police numbers, which have dropped by more than 20,000 over the past decade.

Mr Javid, who is regarded as a possible successor to Ms May, was speaking as the prime minister struggled to contain animosity over her comments earlier in the week.

Britain’s most senior police officer, Cressida Dick, dismissed the prime minister’s claims that there was no link between knife violence and the police cuts Ms May presided over as home secretary.

Jeremy Corbyn also accused Ms May of not doing enough to tackle the “root cause” of the rise in knife crime at Prime Minister’s Questions after she announced her summit in No 10 later this week to deal with the issue.

Ms May said “any death of a young person is a terrible tragedy”, and that “we have seen too many young lives of promise and potential being cut short”.

“Responsibility for these terrible crimes does lie with the perpetrators, and we will always stand with the victims to ensure that criminals are brought to justice,” she said.

“But we will only defeat the scourge of violence if we understand and address its complex root causes.”

Ms May insisted the government is putting more resources into policing. A proposed cash boost could see total police funding rise by nearly £1 billion in 2019/20, including money raised through council tax.

Asked whether the PM still believed there was no direct link between police numbers and violent crime, her official spokesman said: "Clearly resources and powers are important.

"We have just given the police more resources and more powers and we always listen to what the police are saying.

"But it's hugely important that we don't just treat this as a policing issue, that we do look across society at things such as changes in the drugs market and address issues like gang culture with children being groomed into this lifestyle and carrying knives, and we look at public health."

Later this week, police chiefs will present ministers with details of the resources they need for a "surge" in capacity to combat the rise in violent crime.