LABOUR has said the Government "failed to act" as figures show knife-point robberies are up by almost a third.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that, over the last 10 years, offences involving a knife have increased in every police force in England and Wales.

In a third of forces, knife crime has at least doubled and over the past 10 years, there has been a 16 per cent increase in homicides involving a knife, while knife-point robberies are up 31 per cent.

Sarah Jones, Labour's shadow home office minister, said knife crime has risen "as a result of Tory cuts to the police and preventative services".

She added: "The Government have spent years announcing summits, strategies, and taskforces - but they have failed to act, with knife crime continuing to rise across the country on their watch.

"More warm words from ministers will not help communities across the country that are blighted by knife crime.

"This Conservative Government needs to explain how it will fix the national knife crime crisis that was born on their watch."

Responding, policing minister Kit Malthouse said: "As deputy mayor for policing in London I successfully fought the last spike in knife crime which grew under Ken Livingstone as mayor and a Labour government, so attempts to politicise what is a complex and difficult problem seem cheap and unpleasant to me.

"It would be more helpful if Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party was consistent in their approach to crime and supported what we and our violence reduction units are doing to confront this challenge.

"Instead Labour's opposition to stop and search would deprive the police of a vital tool in their arsenal against knife crime and despite calling for more to be done, Labour have voted against increased police funding.

"The Conservatives are taking the urgent action needed to tackle knife crime and keep our communities safe - hiring 20,000 additional police officers, investing millions to tackle county lines and locking violent criminals up for longer, as well as doing the long-term work to turn young people away from violence."