British actor Idris Elba said he has had “deep conversations” with Sir Keir Starmer about how to tackle knife crime. The Luther star met with the Labour leader earlier in the week at an event where they spoke to the families of knife crime victims. On Sunday, following a rousing speech on the West Holts stage at Glastonbury Festival, the 51-year-old said it is “crucial” that the next prime minister addresses the issue.
Idris Elba with Romaya (Ben Birchall/PA) Speaking to the PA news agency backstage, he said: “I think that the politics around knife crime are so crucial to anyone that ends up in office (as prime minister), it’s important that whatever happens, something is done about knife crime. “I believe that (Sir) Keir and I have had very deep conversations about his plans to try and tackle it. “He’s read and listens to what I’ve got to offer in terms of the manifesto I wrote about how we try (to fix) this, and he’s been very responsive.
“So I can only hope right now that everyone is paying attention and that we’re going to move forward and fix it.” Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer rests his hand on the shoulder of Idris Elba, as they meet families of knife crime victims (Stefan Rousseau/PA) “We need to think as a group. We need to think as joined up teams.
“So the communities need to speak to the schools (to) education, education needs to speak to the healthcare. Healthcare needs to speak to the police. “These are all joined-up conversation.
