Serious Crime Bill [Lords]

First, the officer asked whether I had been drinking, to which I replied that I had not had a drink for three and a half years. I asked why he had pulled me over and he said that my driving was erratic. I disagreed with that. Then he said, ““And you were following the speed limit all the time we were behind you.”” I explained that as the local Member of Parliament I tend not to speed in my constituency as I do not want tickets. I was also told that I came under suspicion because I approached a roundabout at 20 mph because most people do so at between 30 to 40 mph. There is a place for the proposed laws, but we need to make sure that they are applied sensitively and that we do not alienate members of the community whom we need on our side. If we are to tackle the appalling rates of gun and knife crime, it must be a community-wide exercise. We cannot rely on the police to do it for us, because if we do so, they will surely fail. We need to involve community leaders, parents and schools. They have the power to reach young people at an early age and set them on the right path, to teach them the difference between right and wrong. These laws alone will not end gun and knife crime. When they come into force, gun crime and knife crime will not fall quickly or automatically. The laws are part of a template; they are building blocks for reducing gun and knife crime, but to do so we need fully to engage our communities and the people who can and do reach young minds to ensure that they choose the right path and make the right decisions. It is not just that the young lives of those who are killed so tragically are snuffed out; the perpetrators of those crimes are affected, too. Often they are young people or children—almost babies. As soon as they use a knife or a gun their life, in effect, is over, too. It is important that the House understands that the issue is deeply complex. All parties must work together to ensure that over the next decade we have a happier story to tell than over the past decade.