Knife thugs to be treated like jihadis under Theresa May’s plans to solve recent crimewave

KNIFE thugs will be treated like would-be jihadi extremists in a desperate bid by Theresa May to get to grips with Britain’s crimewave.

The Sun can reveal the Government is preparing to unveil a Prevent-style strategy that would place a legal duty on councils, schools, and the NHS to “flag” vulnerable kids, stab victims or gang members.

The youngsters would then be referred to a new agency in Britain’s knife crime “hot spots”.

Under the counter-terror Prevent strategy from 2015, agencies have to refer kids at risk of being drawn into terrorism.

The details could be announced in just two weeks’ time when the PM meets Ministers, community leaders and victims’ families for crisis talks. The idea stems from Glasgow’s efforts to tackle knife crime over a decade ago.

A source said: “It’s one a number of options being looked at right now.”

'RESOURCE' ISSUE

The move comes as the PM tries to get back on the front foot after the Home Secretary Sajid Javid and police chiefs attacked her over police funding.

Under the new crackdown, No.10 is also expected to approve Mr Javid’s call for the biggest change to stop and search powers for five years in big cities.

He wants the ‘suspicion’ threshold to be lowered, allowing the police to confront more suspects on the streets.

The Government is also expected to approve calls for extra money to fund a police “surge” following a summit with chief constables yesterday.

Mr Javid piled on pressure by insisting the “resource” issue had to be tackled. An aide added: “The balls in in the PM’s court.”

Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Theresa May admitted the police needed the “right resources” to do their jobs.

And she hinted at the coming crackdown as she opened Prime Ministers’ Questions. She said: “A growing number of young people have lost their lives in a cycle of mindless violence that has shocked us all.

“The responsibility for these crimes lies with the perpetrators of them, but we must all do more to ensure that justice is served and to tackle the root causes of this violence so we can bring it to an end and ensure the safety of our young people.” Some 20,000 cops have been lost their jobs since 2010.

We need much stronger leadership from Government.

Sara Thornton of the National Police Chiefs Council

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Labour politicians urged the PM to put 10,000 officers back on the street. And Former Met Commissioner John Stevens said he believed the PM was “incapable” of fixing the crisis.

Sara Thornton of the National Police Chiefs Council slammed both the PM and Home Secretary for failing to fund policing properly, show leadership or hold people to account for the ‘Serious Violence Strategy’ launched by the Government last year.

She stormed: “We need much stronger leadership from Government.”

After the meeting with the Home Secretray, Bedfordshire assistant chief constable Jackie Sebire said: “I was really positive, the meeting overran, there were a lot of good ideas

“The Home Secretary was very committed to what we can do now.”

Sajid Javid said the Government had 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.”