Today's leading stories include coverage of violence in London and a commitment from the Home Secretary to provide sanctuary for a further 5,000 refugees from 2020.
Violent crime in London
There is coverage across most newspapers this morning of violent crime in London, following the fourth fatal stabbing in four days.
The Times reports that police have now opened more than 60 murder investigations in London this year, with the latest coming in the early hours of Monday morning when a man in his 40s was stabbed to death in Stratford, East London.
Victoria Atkins, Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability said:
I want to express my condolences to the families who have suffered terrible losses due to this weekend’s attacks.
We are doing everything in our power to tackle the scourge of serious violence and our new Offensive Weapons Act is an important part of this. The Act will see the introduction of Knife Crime Prevention Orders – a power the police called for.
In addition, our Serious Violence Strategy places a greater emphasis on early intervention to steer young people away from violent crime by offering positive choices, alongside equipping police with the powers and resources they need to keep communities safe from this threat.
We understand that more needs to be done, which is why we are investing over £220 million in projects to steer young people away from crime.
Refugees
The Express and Independent report on an announcement made by the Home Secretary yesterday that the UK will aim to take in 5,000 refugees from 2020.
According to the reports, a new global resettlement scheme is set to replace the current ‘vulnerable persons resettlement scheme’, which has helped resettle 16,000 refugees since 2015.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:
Since 2016, Britain has resettled more refugees from outside Europe than any other EU state – and it’s vital we continue to do all we can to help the world’s most vulnerable.
Under our new scheme, thousands more people fleeing conflict and persecution will have the opportunity to build a new life in the UK.
I’m proud of the world-leading work we have done in the Middle East and Africa so far – but there is so much more to do.