Sajid Javid opens new rift with Theresa May by boasting about cut in knife crime after loosening her stop and search curbs
Sajid Javid’s remarks were seen as a veiled attack on Mrs May’s significant restrictions on the police’s stop and search powers during her tenure as Home Secretary
SAJID Javid has opened up a new rift with Theresa May by suggesting her landmark policy of restricting stop and search powers was responsible for a rise in crime.
In a discussion about the alarming increase in violent attacks in Britain, the Home Secretary told a private meeting of Tory MPs on Wednesday night: “Sadly, we’ve seen a drop in stop and search.”
He then boasted of how its use was increasing again under his watch.
Mr Javid’s remarks – revealed by Sun columnist James Forsyth in his Sun column today – were seen as a veiled attack on Mrs May’s significant curbs on the police’s stop and search powers during her six-year spell as Home Secretary.
She claimed they unfairly targeted ethnic minorities and in 2014 she ordered police chiefs to open up records to show the reasons behind why they stop and search suspects.
Mrs May boasted that she had reduced the number of black people being stopped and searched by two thirds.
The revelation of Mr Javid’s outspoken comments will further strain his relationship with the Prime Minister after a string of rows since she appointed him Home Secretary last year.
The pair were at loggerheads for months over Britain’s post-Brexit immigration policy and rejected her immigration cap for doctors and nurses.
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Mr Javid also lifted Mrs May’s ban on the medicinal use of cannabis oil.
Since he began to loosen rules on stop and search last year, the number of knife attacks on youngsters has dramatically reduced.
Met Police chief Cressida Dick said knife attacks on under-25’s went down 31 per cent during the three months between September and the end of November, with 176 fewer stabbing victims compared to the same period last year.
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