David Lammy: ‘Kids are getting killed. Where is the prime minister? Where is Sadiq Khan?’

Following a shocking rise in violence in London in which four of his constituents died, the Tottenham MP is calling for politicians to admit the 'war on drugs' has failed - and that black lives matter

David Lammy is one of those politicians whose public profile has never correlated with his position in his party, or converted into frontbench power, and this sort of maverick celebrity operator tends to attract suspicion. Elected to represent Tottenham 18 years ago, the 46-year-old has at various key moments - the Grenfell fire, the London riots - distinguished himself in the public's affection by seizing individual ownership of the agenda. To some, particularly in Westminster, this highly personalised brand of political identity is opportunistic self-promotion, artfully disguised as heroism.

To me, his politics look sincere and principled, I've just never been entirely sure what they are. He used to joke: "I'm not Blair, I'm not Brown, I'm just black." And he has successfully eluded all association with any ideological faction with such dexterity that he can sometimes look a bit slippery, as if his public persona is contingent on whatever strategy he has devised to please his audience.

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