Lives lost by knife crime could be prevented if the Government implements a properly-funded public health approach, Deptford and Lewisham's MP has said.

Labour's Vicky Foxcroft said knife crime levels "show no sign of decreasing" and that the Government will be "failing our young people" if it does not find a solution.

Tory MP Ben Everitt added that knife crime "should never be normal" and urged the Government to "deal with" the issue.

Ms Foxcroft said the Government must ensure that a public health approach "stays at the top of the political agenda".

"First and foremost, the Youth Violence Commission believes that we must develop a consistent, long-term public health approach to tackling youth violence," she told MPs.

The Lewisham Deptford MP added: "It's becoming more and more apparent that the term public health model is being used without a proper understanding of what is actually required to effect that lasting change.

"And as we learned from Scotland, success of a public health approach requires whole system, cultural and organisational change supported by sustained political backing - and anything short of this will fail.

"Since 2015, I have seen far too many young lives cut short by knife crime. These are preventable deaths and we are seriously failing our young people if we do not succeed in finding sustainable, properly-funded long-term solutions."

Mr Everitt said there have been four murders in 10 weeks in his constituency of Milton Keynes, all of them involving knives.

"Four murders in 10 weeks is not normal, it should never be normal, we should not let it be normal, we should deal with this," the Milton Keynes North MP said.

He added: "I am proud to talk tough on crime because we should be tough on crime and frankly getting tough on crime works, stop and searches work."

Describing how stop and searches are effective, Mr Everitt said: "They allow the police to get knives off the streets, and not only to get the knives off the streets, but to get those that carry them in their rightful place - behind bars.

"They also act as a deterrent to discourage other people from carrying these weapons, but an important part of this is that they also act as a reassurance to the wider law-abiding public."

DUP MP Paul Girvan (South Antrim) said: "In relation to stop and search, many young people would never think of carrying a firearm or going out with a firearm, yet they're turning up with a weapon that is equally as dangerous and as lethal to life and there is not the same penalty for carrying a knife as there is for carrying an illegal firearm - and that's something that needs to be dealt with."