Milton Keynes Conservative Group very much welcome the National Monument Against Violence and Aggression, known as the ‘Knife Angel’ to Milton Keynes.
Cllr Keith McLean, Shadow Cabinet member for Community Safety who sat on the Knife Crime Task and Finish Group, acknowledges that the Knife Angel was originally supposed to arrive in late 2020 as ones of the initiatives agreed by the Knife Crime Task and Finish group and hopes its delayed arrival reinforces the important work achieved by the cross-party Group.
The arrival of this formidable sculpture made up of approximately 100,000 bladed weapons collected in knife amnesty bins across the UK, kickstarts 30 days of action against violence in all forms with organisations across the city, including TVP, MK Safety Centre and MK Dons SET, collaborating to lead the activities and awareness events.
Group Leader Cllr David Hopkins said "The Knife Angel will become the focus for a city-wide conversation about violence, aggression and knife crime while it is in Milton Keynes
"It is easy to think that violence is something that happens in other places, but the most commonly reported types of crimes in our city involve threats of violence without injury. This is an opportunity for schools, colleges and community groups to hear from people who have experienced violence first-hand and for all of us to rise to the challenge of driving violence and aggression out of our lives."
Milton Keynes Conservative Group hope that the presence of the 27ft sculpture will stimulate conversations about the dangers and impacts of knife crime throughout Milton Keynes, especially with our young people, and echo the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, call for residents, MKCC and Thames Valley Police to work together to stamp out knife crime in our communities.