MPs to hold debate on knife crime

A 15-year-old girl became the latest knife crime victim in London

MPs are to hold a special debate on knife crime, after a 15-year-old girl was found dead in south London.

Thursday's 90-minute "topical debate" was announced hours after the girl was found stabbed to death in a lift on a housing estate in Lambeth.

She is the 16th teenager to be fatally attacked in London this year. A man has been arrested over her death.

On Sunday anti-gun crime campaigner Pat Regan was stabbed to death in the Hyde Park area of Leeds.

Weekly topical debates were introduced in the Commons last year, following recommendations by the Commons modernisation committee - they address "issues of regional, national or international importance".