It came as Amber Rudd announced new measures to tackle gangs which use young people to ferry drugs across the country and promised new money to tackle the deep-rooted causes of youth violence.

The most recent figures available for 2015/16 show there were 6,685 permanent exclusions, an increase of 15.4 per cent compared to the previous year.

This equates to 35 children being expelled from English primary, secondary and specialist schools every day.

The number has risen every year since 2012/13, when 4,630 children were excluded. Between 2012 and 2015 there was a 44.4 per cent increase in children taken out of mainstream education, according to data from the Department for Education.