21 March 2007

Dear editor,

Am I alone in being incensed by the recent political response to knife crime following recent high-profile knife attacks?  The whole idea is that the police will look after us. Communities are asked to confide in the police. Inner city youngsters will be asked to inform on friends while the police will schools and youth clubs to lecture youth and tell them knives aren’t ‘cool’. 

Even this new labour nonsense is not enough for David Davies of the Tory party. He said; “These measures are insufficient; the growing problem of knife crime is plain for all to see.  John Reid should be ensuring we have a much greater police presence on the streets to deter violent crime”.

As a socialist I believe that much of the violent behaviour we see is the result of demoralisation.  A community with strong morale is able to give youth a feeling of their own worth and give them a place rather than create a society of informers or the pathetic alternative of a knife culture. The demoralisation of working class communities is brought about by capitalist society, the government and police.  Those who see themselves as moral experts while in reality responsible for the most savage slaughter and bloodletting are the real cause of our problems.

Yours,

Graham Stock