Police must get tougher on knife-carrying 'postcode gangs' in Milton Keynes says new MP

During his maiden speech in the House of Commons, Ben Everitt said: “It is devastating and heartbreaking when a young life is extinguished by a blade.

“We need to sort this out... We need to retask our police to get tougher on what are called the postcode gangs and break up the scourge on society that is knife crime.”

In November the MK Citizen revealed there are at least 10 different gangs in Milton Keynes and each is named after a different city postcode.

The biggest gangs are MK4 in Westcroft, MK6 in Fishermead and B3 in Bletchley and the members range from 15-year-old schoolchildren to young adults in their 20s.

Some of the gangs 'communicate' with each other through violent rap music videos that threaten stabbings and bloodshed.

The youngsters film themselves wearing hoods, dancing and posing on city streets while reciting in rap style the violent acts they intend to carry out on rival gang members.

They then publish the videos on YouTube and they are freely available for people to view.

The members write their own songs, which include lyrics such as 'Shank on my waist, mask under my hoodie' and 'Slash that yute, his flesh be ripping'.

Translated from gang speak, this means 'Knife on me, ready to attack' and 'stab that boy, rip his flesh'.

Enemies are referred to as 'pagans' and the videos boast about the number of pagans the gangs have 'jumped up' or attacked.

In one video, filmed at Westcroft shopping centre, a hooded gang member brandishes a large knife in time to the music.

Another video, filmed on Fishermead, shows members dancing around a pool of blood on the pavement.

Mr Everitt believes the extra police officers allocated to MK by the government will “definitely make a difference” in tackling the gang problem.

“183 have already in recruitment by the local force. These are complimented by 69 further uniformed police officers and 140 extra back room staff to do intelligence gathering,” he told the House of Commons.