OLDHAM West and Royton MP Jim McMahon has joined the call for action to be taken on the knife crime epidemic currently sweeping the UK.

His comments follow the deaths of Jodie Chesney in an east London Park and Yousef Ghaleb Makki in Hale Barns, near Altrincham last week.

Mr McMahon said: “We see on the news almost every other week that another person has been involved in a brutal and tragic attack, resulting in the loss of their own life through no fault of their own.”

He went on: “Behind every crime statistic is a person, a victim and their families. I have seen the impact attacks have had on my own constituents, it leaves a legacy of suffering far beyond the immediate victim and that immediate moment.”

The latest tragic deaths have seen calls on the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary to admit that rising knife crime and deaths related to knife attacks are because of falling police numbers on our streets following years of cuts to the policing budget.

The Prime Minister denied that there was a link between police numbers and knife crime, saying that she was certain there was no direct connection between the two. Despite this, Cressida Dick, the Met police commissioner, has said there is certainly “some link” between rising knife crime and the numbers of police on our streets.

Policing in Greater Manchester has been devastated by deep cuts to its budget leaving the force with 2,000 fewer officers and 1,000 fewer support workers, said Mr McMahon

Greater Manchester Police recorded a worrying 3,139 knife crimes for the year to September, 2018.

Nationally 42,957 knife crimes were reported for the same period. There is an epidemic sweeping the country and local MP Jim McMahon is calling for the Prime Minister and Home Secretary to act before more fall victim to knife crime.

Mr McMahon said: “ I have seen the impact attacks have had on my own constituents, it leaves a legacy of suffering far beyond the immediate victim and that immediate moment. We cannot police on the cheap and it's obvious that the closure of police stations, loss of custody cells, courts and personnel are all impacting. It is a crisis. We need to return to a safer place and to give hope to a generation which runs the risk of being left behind.”