Idris Elba kicked off a new initiative, dubbed the “Don’t Stop Your Future” campaign, which urges U.K. politicians to fight the “nightmare” of the knife crime “epidemic” that has made headlines and cost many lives, particularly among younger people, in the country. “Knife crime is an issue I feel very passionate about and I want to use my voice to raise awareness,” the film, TV and music star wrote on the initiative’s website. “Together we can put an end to this epidemic! Don’t stop your future – put the knives down!”
The initiative “aims to raise serious youth violence to the top of the political agenda, where it belongs,” Elba said in an open letter on the site. “It’s easy to feel like the growing rate of violence is unstoppable. But the fact is that if parliament gives this issue the focus it deserves, this terrible trajectory absolutely can be reversed.” According to the U.K police statistics for the July 2022 to June 2023 period in England and Wales, a total of 247 people lost their lives to knife violence during that year.