A regional daily has demanded action from embattled Prime Minister Liz Truss on knife crime.

The Northern Echo has issued the plea after joining forces with Zoey McGill and Tanya Brown, whose teenage sons were both stabbed to death in separate incidents.

The Darlington-based Echo’s campaign was launched yesterday, the first anniversary of the death of Ms McGill’s 18-year-old son Jack Woodley, who was violently attacked by a gang of ten youths before he was stabbed with a ‘Rambo-style’ knife by a 15-year-old boy.

Ms Brown launched The Connor Brown Trust in her son Connor’s memory to educate young people and raise awareness about the dangers of carrying a knife. after was stabbed to death during a night out in 2019.

The campaign’s launch on the Echo’s front page, pictured above, also comes two weeks ago 14-year-old Tomasz Oleszak, died after a suspected stabbing in Gateshead with another 14-year-old now facing a murder charge.

Echo editor Gavin Foster told HTFP: “It’s abundantly clear that the Prime Minister is under the cosh and is clearly preoccupied with her political future. But we can’t simply ignore the serious issues affecting our communities and in this case the tragic loss of young lives.

“Successive governments have been failing our children by not stepping in to crack down on the knife menace which has left too many families grieving at young people’s gravesides.

“Ms Truss and her new Home Secretary owe it to future generations to address the root causes and cultural factors behind young people carrying deadly weapons.

“Today we are adding our voice to two grieving mums who tragically lost children to this scourge who have been fighting to be heard. They and we will not be ignored. We must act now.”

The Echo’s plea to Liz Truss comes two days after it questioned her future on its front page.

On Saturday’s front page, it ran with the headline ‘How long before PM is out of the picture?’ following her decision to sack new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng after just 38 days in the job.