Knife crime is a fatal scourge on our streets, which is why Keir Starmer’s moral mission to tackle the curse is worth voting for in this General Election. The Tories have failed miserably when the number of offences involving a blade rose 7% last year to 50,000 and the number of robberies involving a knife jumped a terrifying 20%.
One-time chief prosecutor Mr Starmer’s ambitious target to halve the total during the next Parliament will not be easy. But where there is a political will, there might be a way. Experience teaches him that no single solution exists. Tougher jail sentences on their own are not the answer.
But by pulling everybody together, from the police and courts to parents and communities and even offenders themselves, the bloodshed can be reduced and Britain will be a better, safer and happier place to live. Knife crime should be an issue above party politics – but only one party has fresh thinking.
Cold comfort
Who do you believe on foodbanks: Iceland boss Richard Walker or Rishi Sunak? We suspect most voters will take the word of the supermarket boss, who revealed to the Daily Mirror he was carpeted by the Prime Minister for publicising the mounting demand for charity meals from impoverished Britons.
Slippery Sunak dodged directly addressing Walker’s disclosure, and many will wonder if it was crocodile tears when he insisted he was “sad” about increasing need. Much of the demand is driven by low wages and a brutal welfare state, after 14 years of Conservative rule which has spread and deepened misery across the country.
Two New York cops stabbed during celebrations in Times Square
Royal recovery
Our best wishes to the Princess Royal, who suffered head injuries and concussion when a horse is thought to have kicked her on her Gatcombe Park estate. One of the more hard-working royals, Anne, 73, will no doubt wish to be out of hospital and back to her duties in double-quick time.
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