I'M sure that I talk for our whole community when I express my deep concern and alarm at a number of recent incidents of violent crime.

Recently we saw a fatal stabbing on our streets.

The week before another stabbing hit our town.

In recent months we have seen a firebomb incident on a home while robberies and assaults seem to happen weekly.

With violent crime rising 41 per cent social coherence seems to be breaking down.

This is a serious concern that I have been consistently raising with the local police force and local authority.

While their efforts, including the month of action late last year, has made a positive impact, clearly more needs to be done to urgently.

Last week I was also made aware of a racist leaflet that has been distributed.

This abhorrent leaflet is deeply disturbing, and I believe a result of the local febrile atmosphere in our community.

If you have also received this leaflet I encourage you to contact the police or myself.

But worryingly, when I speak to the local police about our issues, one thing is apparent – they simply do not have the resources to take the action I am sure we all agree is needed.

And the facts show clearly the reasons why we are in this situation – since austerity began, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) saw a funding cut of £153 million, the number of GMP officers has been cut by 2,000 and violent crime across our city region has almost tripled.

And this crisis is not unique to our local towns.

The National Audit Office found Central Government funding to local forces has been cut by £2.7bn in real terms since 2010.

Figures for just this year show that police numbers are at the lowest levels in three decades.

Since 2010 over 21,000 police officers have been lost across the country.

Additionally, over 16,000 police staff and over 6,000 community support officers have been axed, despite repeated promises to protect the frontline.

Police recorded violent crime is now at the highest on record; knife offences are at the highest since records began; arrests have halved in a decade; unsolved crimes stand at 2 million.

This is a record of deep shame.

Austerity has hit our streets and it is hardly a surprise that our thinning blue line has now been stretched to breaking point.

The Conservatives just do not understand – you cannot keep communities safe on the cheap.

I will continue the important dialogue with our local police to discuss what steps we can take to get on top of this crisis, despite the funding and resourcing pressures they face.

Our local force does amazing work and our brave officers should be commended.

They deserve funding and resources which is why I will continue to fight in Parliament to end the austerity on our police forces to help urgently tackle the growing crime crisis we are witnessing on our streets.