Gordon Brown has promised to tackle knife crime after recent stabbings in London and the Midlands.

The Prime Minister said Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will set out the Government's latest plans on Monday.

He added: "The terrible stabbings that have occurred this week are shocking and tragic, and my thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have been hurt or killed in these attacks."

Seven people have been killed in the latest series of knife attacks, with four of the victims stabbed to death in London.

A man and a woman have been arrested after a 19-year-old died in Edmonton, north London. He is the 20th teenager to die violently in the capital this year.

Police are also questioning four people after a 20-year-old man died from a knife wound in Leyton, east London.

Detectives are investigating whether he was fleeing from the occupants of a van who had stabbed him in an apparent road rage attack moments earlier.

In nearby Walthamstow, a man in his 20s was fatally stabbed in an attack in St David's Court on Thursday night and later died in hospital.

A murder inquiry has also been launched in Tottenham, north London, after a man was found stabbed to death at the rear of a disused pub in Tottenham High Road.

The victim, thought to be in his 40s, was suffering from head injuries and slash wounds. He died at the scene.

Two men and a woman were arrested nearby and have been taken to police stations in north London.

Met Police Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin said: "Our evidence indicates it is about two in 100 young people that we need to sort out and I am convinced that London together with the police and other agencies will get to them."

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old man died after being stabbed in a row in the street in West Bromwich, West Midlands. A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and a woman of the same age has been arrested in connection with the stabbing.

Merseyside Police arrested a 49-year-old man on suspicion of murder after a woman was stabbed to death in Crosby, Liverpool, in what officers believe was a domestic incident.

A man is also being held on suspicion of murder after a woman was found with fatal stab wounds inside a blazing house. The discovery was made after firefighters were called to the detached property in the village of Tarleton, Lancashire, in the early hours of Friday.

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