Police should feel empowered to stop and search suspects irrespective of whether they are black, brown or white in efforts to combat the “disease” of knife crime, Sajid Javid said yesterday.

The Home Secretary is expected to announce enhanced stop and search powers for police within the next few weeks following a surge in violence that has seen 199 deaths in London alone this year.

Backing increased use of stop and search, he said: “I’m saying, if you’re a police officer, you should feel absolutely confident to use your powers of stop and search.”

Despite complaints from critics that ethnic minorities are more likely to be stopped, he said: “If we want to stop offending in the first place, we should put ethnicity aside. It doesn’t matter if someone is black, or brown, or white or whatever they are.