Keighley MP Condemns Local ‘Drug-Dealing Scum’

Friday, 2 December 2016 15:45

Criminals who use young people to help them peddle illegal drugs in Keighley have been described as “scum” and “cowards” by the town’s MP.

Speaking during a parliamentary debate on Northern Ireland, Kris Hopkins drew a parallel between the recruitment of vulnerable teenagers by dissident republican terrorists in the Province and the activities of drug dealers in Keighley.

Mr Hopkins, who serves in Government as a Northern Ireland Office Minister, recently sent an anti-drugs survey to hundreds of constituents and businesses in the Keighley Central ward asking for their views.

He plans to announce the results in the coming weeks, together with a plan for how he believes the problem can best be tackled by the local community with support from the police, Crimestoppers and other public bodies and agencies.

Responding to David Simpson, the MP for Upper Bann in Northern Ireland, Mr Hopkins said:

“I am thinking about my own constituency and the fears about the drug-dealing scum in my town who use innocent young people, because they are cowards. They franchise out that activity to someone else - to an innocent.”

The Keighley and Ilkley MP added: “I would say to parents, to families, out there: be extremely vigilant."

“These people are not bringing someone into a cause but exploiting innocent young people, and we must do everything we can to protect them.”

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