Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to calls for changes to stop and search and for police to be exempt from race discrimination laws, said:

“Racism is against the law and should never be tolerated. Stop and search is already too easily done on the basis of racial profiling.

“There is no evidence that random stops reduces violent crime. In fact the surge in violent crime has gone hand in hand with brutal Tory police cuts. Our officers need more resources to keep us safe.

“Evidenced based stops will always be a vital tool in fighting crime, but random stops have only poisoned relationships between young people and the police.”