‘Just help the kids’: MMA champion’s message for Sunak on youth spending

UFC welterweight world champion Leon Edwards says to fight crime more money is needed for facilities

A champion mixed martial artist has urged Rishi Sunak to accelerate funding for youth clubs, end years of cuts and “just help the kids”.

Leon Edwards, 31, welterweight world champion who affiliated with gangs in his teens in Birmingham after his father was murdered, said the reason for rising violent crime in his region was clear: “There is nothing for the kids to do apart from being on your phone or on the street.”