Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn reveals why UK isn’t a country you ‘probably’ want to raise your children in

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has claimed Britain is not a country where you ‘probably’ want to raise your children.

The Chair of Matchroom sport shared his concerns for his own children’s safety amid a spate of stabbings that have shocked the nation – including the death of teenager Daniel Anjorin, just 10 miles from his own home in Essex.

Mr Hearn claimed the UK has a laissez-faire response to tackling knife crime, and even compared the country to strict Saudi Arabia where he claimed there is ‘zero crime’.

‘A young kid lost his life in Hainault – that’s 20 minutes from me,’ he said. ‘My nan and grandad live around the corner. And the next day, it’s like it has never even happened.

‘It’s snowballing into a horrific situation in our country, but no one’s trying anything, as if we have become desensitised to events.’

The 44-year-old claims Britain should take a stronger approach to tackling knife crime. Pictured here with his wife Chloe 

Mr Hearn told The Telegraph that people in Saudi Arabia are afraid of the consequences of carrying a weapon unlike youngsters in the UK. He believes those who carry blades for ‘acceptance’ need to understand that if they get caught, they will go to prison.

‘If you’re in a gang and you want to have a blade to look cool, that’s one thing. But what about the person who’s prepared to take someone’s life with it?

He went on to say that Britain needs to be ‘extreme’ with its actions and thinks this is the only way to tackle the issue.

Teenagers in the UK today are now twice as likely to be fatally stabbed as they were ten years ago.

Since London Mayor Sadiq Khan took office in 2016, knife crime has increased by 54 per cent. And it is rising at its fastest rate for five years — up 20 per cent last year alone, according to Office for National Statistics figures released in April.

Since London Mayor Sadiq Khan took office in 2016, knife crime has increased by 54 per cent and it is rising at its fastest rate for five years 

This graph shows the number of homicides each year of Mr Khan’s term as Mayor 

Sadiq Khan was elected London Mayor in May 2016. This cumulative graph shows the number of homicides for the final part of 2016 and then each of the following eight years

A total of 14,626 knife offences were recorded by police in the capital last year – an average of 40 a day and up by a fifth on 2022. 

There was also an increase in gun crime, with 1,208 recorded over 2023 – up by more than 200 compared to the previous year. 

Many have laid the blame squarely on Mr Khan, with policing minister Chris Philp blaming a fall in stop and search. 

The use of stop and search powers by the Met has reduced by 44 per cent over the last two years, while the number of subsequent arrests is down by 28 per cent. 

The Mayor is a critic of the tactic and previously pledged to ‘do all in my power to further cut its use’ over concerns it targeted ethnic minorities. 

Taking to X, Mr Philp said knife crime was up ‘as a consequence’ of ‘fewer knives being taken off streets’. 

Knife crime in the capital disproportionately affects young people, as the tragic rollcall of teenage homicide victims has shown.