Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore has held his own parliamentary debate on local drug crime, which he used to bring attention to the problems facing the area, and praise the actions being taken at a local and national level to stop this.
Moore cited examples which show just how serious a problem this is. He noted an incident which happened only the same morning as his debate, where a police raid found seized cannabis seedlings worth around ÂŁ130,000 in the Highfield area of Keighley. He sighted other instances which included gang related violence and weaponry being found by the police, alongside huge amounts of drugs. Moore sighted the horrific effects this is having on his constituents, including some getting involved in the spiral of drug dealing from a young age, and being exploited to child sexual exploitation by the same evil gangs who deal drugs. He also explained that given drug dealing, gang violence, and anti-social behaviour happens so openly in his constituency, people are put off spending time in the town centre, which has an unhealthy impact on the local economy.
In one of Moore’s very first surgeries as an MP, a constituent told him that his son had come home from school one day and said he wanted to be a drug dealer when he grew up. Instances like this have made tackling local drug crime one of Moore’s top priorities, and he made sure to praise the work being done both locally and nationally to do this. The Government recently introduced a 10-year strategy to clamp down on drug crime, backed by billions of pounds of investment. This involves plans to stop the cycle of crime that is driven by addiction, to keep violence out of communities and to save lives by reducing the number of drug-related deaths and homicides. Moore also recently welcomed Home Secretary Priti Patel to visit Keighley, where he showed her some of the drug dealing hotspots in his constituency first-hand. He also praised local work, including Operation Springhaven, which brings together groups including the police, the local council and community groups to prevent drug dealing in the local area.
In his response to Moore’s speech, Kit Malthouse, who attends Cabinet Meetings in his capacity as Minister for Drug Crime, praised the work done by Moore to bring drug crime to the forefront of Parliament’s attention. He mentioned the progress being made in tackling drug crime, including 7,400 arrests and rescuing 4,000 through the county line drugs programme, an reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to further progress in stopping this altogether.
Robbie Moore MP said: “This is such an important issue which is why I am so determined to ensure that stopping local drug crime is a key priority. It was good to host my own debate in parliament to further raise this issue and bring directly to the Ministers attention some of the local issues we are facing across our area.
Countless constituents have contacted me about this, concerned and deeply worried. Drug dealing happens in broad daylight, and the evil filth who get involved in supplying and dealing should hang their heads in shame . In my role as the MP for Keighley and Ilkley, I like to sing from the rooftops about all that is great in our area. However, I would be absolutely failing if I did not draw attention to the problems plaguing our local communities so we can have a real chance of solving them.
It is vital that steps are taken to educate young people about the dangers of drug dealing and drug taking, and that support is in place to help people who have already fallen foul to drug addiction. It is good to see steps being taken to do this, including through the Government’s Ten Year Drug Strategy, which will invest billions to clamping down on local drug crime and county lines.”
