Yahoo News Friend of Nuneaton stabbing victim grills party leaders on Question Time - and isn't impressed
A friend of tragic Nuneaton stabbing victim Tom Ellis grilled politicians on BBC Question Time about knife crime - and was not impressed with what they said. Steven Rose spoke during the BBC1 debate from Birmingham last night (June 27).
He told presenter Fiona Bruce, the panel of MPs Andrew Mitchell, Yvette Cooper, Stephen Flynn and Layla Moran and the audience about his friend, who he said they lost 'in the blink of an eye' after he was stabbed on Queens Road on the night of Saturday, June 8.
Asking the first question of the night, he said: "Just three weeks ago, in my hometown of Nuneaton, my friend was stabbed and killed outside a shopping centre. A 16-year-old has been arrested and charged. You all (the panel) say you are going to increase police presence to try and tackle anti-social behaviour and knife crime, but what else are you going to do about it?"
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Presenter Fiona Bruce said "Steven, first of all, my condolences for your friend Tom Ellis and I know you got his family's permission to talk about him. First of all, just tell us about him."
Steven went on to talk about the former Higham Lane School pupil. "I have known Tom probably just only over 12 months when he joined our squash club but he just fitted in straight away," he said. "He was a lovely lad, a gentle giant, had a partner. They used to come up the squash club and have a social drink on a Friday night probably because it was a nice, easy safe place to go and have a drink I suppose.
"He just really fitted in well, loving life, 25-years-old, doing what anyone else would do. He had a job, saving up for his first property, so that they could find somewhere to live together. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone."
He explained that he had read the main parties' manifestos on tackling knife crime and anti-social behaviour and said: "Labour, you are saying you are going to tag people, in my opinion that is like putting a collar on an XL Bully as it can still bite you. The Conservatives say they are looking at Artificial Intelligence for face recognition , there is no point in doing that unless you stop people going round town centres in balaclavas and hoodies, so unless you back that up, that is pointless as well.
"The Liberal Democrats are going completely the other way where they actually want to reduce the stop and searches, and UK Reform - they say they want custodial sentences for just carrying a knife and they want to increase stop and search." Fiona Bruce replied: "And that is something you'd welcome would it?" to which he said: "I would rather have that than some of the others."
Each of the MPs on the show then spoke about their plans for knife crime and anti-social behaviour, but they still failed to impress Mr Rose, who wants stronger sentences for those caught with knives
"I think in some respects, people are trying to find excuses of what the youth of today are doing," he said. " I grew up in the winter of discontent, the major dole queues, I came up through the same times, when it was hard at times," he said.
He added: "It comes down to a basic fundamental question, people know what is right and what is wrong, if you go out with a knife, that is wrong. This needs to be instilled in people, whether it is coming from the parents, the schools. If there isn't a deterrent, a custodial deterrent for it, then what is a deterrent?"
Investigations into Mr Ellis' death are ongoing. A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named, has been charged with murder.
The teen was remanded in custody to appear at Warwick Crown Court on Friday, July 12.
