POLICE chiefs need to introduce surge policing hot spots to tackle knife crime in the capital, according to former Home Office minister Chris Philp MP.

He was commenting on a knife attack in Leicester Square in London today in which a 34-year-old woman and an 11-year-old girl were wounded.

Philp told GB News: “There’s a few things I would expect the Government to be doing…a ban will come into force in September to outlaw some zombie knives and machetes that should have been that should be outlawed, that’s going to come into force in a few weeks’ time.

“I would like to see hot spot patrols, surge policing going into those areas where there are problems. The previous government, the Conservative government put in funding, about £70 million of extra money this year to fund those hot spot patrols.

“I want to see those police out on the street, hot spot patrolling. And of course, Leicester Square, where this incident occurred today, is exactly the kind of area where you would expect the extra hot spot patrols to take place, as well as places like Croydon town centre, the borough that I represent in Parliament.

“Hot spot patrolling is important. I think stop and search is important. We’ve seen a number of Labour politicians, particularly Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, but others as well being very squeamish about stop and search, not wanting to use it.

“But the truth is, stop and search, when it was being used more widely, was taking almost 500 knives a month off London’s streets. Stopping people, searching them and taking a knife off them I think is an effective way of protecting the public.

“I remember there was a case in Croydon last year where a young girl was stabbed one morning. But if only that perpetrator had been stopped and searched, then maybe she would still be alive today.

“The other thing I’d like to see deployed is technology to scan people at a distance to see if they’re carrying knives.

“I put some investment into that a few months ago, and by the end of this year or early next year, that technology should be ready to deploy onto the street so people can be scanned at a distance, in bulk, like hundreds of people as they walk down the street, to see who is carrying a knife and who isn’t.”

He also condemned the harassment of reporters during street protests and said it is important for democracy that they are not stopped from doing their jobs.

Philp told Martin Daubney: “We saw that fanatical protester trying to prevent a member of the Press, your colleague from GB News, reporting on what was going on that street.

“If we’re going to have a free society, a democracy, then it is vital that journalists doing their job are not impeded…

“The police should be more active in protecting journalists…it’s essential when these protests or activities are taking place, the police should be present to protect journalists.

“If there is a protester or a rioter who is intimidating or harassing a journalist, they should be arrested and prosecuted straight away, because without a free press that can report without inhibition, the foundations of our democracy are being undermined.”