Category Archives: Knife Crime

How is £5 million in sports funding supposed to stop the youth crime epidemic?

Knife crime is rampant in the UK, much of it involving young people. How is £5 million of sports funding supposed to turn it around?

Here’s the story. Discussion below:

I was talking about this only last night, with a 19-year-old friend of mine.

He told me that stunts like this from Dominic Raab are pointless.

Young people are surrounded by a culture of knife crime, he said – in the music they hear, the social media they visit, and in the people they meet in their daily lives (including, often, family members).

In the year ending March 2022, there were around 45,000 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales (excluding Greater Manchester Police Force), according to the Office for National Statistics. This was nine per cent higher than in 2020/21 and a massive 34 per cent higher than in 2010/11.

Home Office data shows there were 261 homicides (also known as murders) (currently recorded) using a sharp instrument, including knives and broken bottles. This meant sharp instruments were used in 40 per cent of the 594 homicides that occurred in 2021/22.

Data from NHS Digital shows there were 4,171 “hospital episodes” recorded in English hospitals in 2021/22 due to assault by a sharp object. This was two per cent higher than in 2020/21 and 14 per cent higher than in 2014/15.

How is a pittance of cash spread across the UK to fund sport supposed to help turn that tide?

Not only is it not enough, it will not be interesting to many of the youngsters who may have been involved in creating the statistics quoted above.

I wonder who provided the advice on which this was based, and on what information it was based.

And I wonder who knows how much it will cost to effect real change.

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David Amess murderer claims he did it because the MP voted to bomb IS in Syria. However…

Misguided: it seems Ali Harbi Ali murdered Sir David Amess because the MP had voted in favour of airstrikes on Syria – that had hardly any effect.

Ali Harbi Ali, the murderer of Sir David Amess, said the killing was a terrorist act of revenge because the late Southend MP voted for airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria.

The attack therefore joins the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing and Westminster attack, the Parsons Green train bombing, and possibly the 2020 Streatham stabbing, as attempts at reprisals for the airstrikes involving a coalition of western powers, for which 397 MPs voted in 2015.

Although, considering the fact that Ali was radicalised in 2019, This Writer wouldn’t have put it past him to have been motivated by the airstrikes against IS in Syria the previous year – when no Parliamentary vote took place at all. There’s nothing rational about these people.

But then, there was very little about the vote to bomb Syria that was rational, either.

For examples:

None of the arguments in their favour – by David Cameron or Labour turncoat Hilary Benn – made any sense. As opponents argued, previous interventions in Iraq and Libya had destabilised those nations, making them a home to terrorists – exactly the opposite of what we were told would happen. Innocents would be killed in huge numbers – even if we knew where the terrorists were hiding, it would probably be behind children or the sick, in schools or hospitals (as we had previously experienced). Dropping bombs on Syria would increase the outflow of refugees. Our bombing would have as little effect as that of the other countries. And when bombing Syria was previously debated in Parliament, it was against President Assad, and therefore on the same side as the terrorists, and if we had gone through with it, Daesh/IS would have controlled most of Syria by the time the 2015 vote took place; how could anyone possibly argue that the current plan would have a better result?

The BBC was so keen to make the UK public support the airstrikes that it lied about a demonstration against them, saying that a violent hard-left hate mob made a show of intimidation outside Labour MP Stella Creasy’s home in an attempt to bully her and other MPs against supporting the strikes – when in fact, a peaceful demonstration filed past her Walthamstow office at a time when nobody was there.

The BBC was also among a media coalition that tried to make the airstrikes Jeremy Corbyn’s responsibility after he allowed Labour MPs to have a free vote. The media mob wanted people to think Mr Corbyn had given his MPs free rein to support the Conservatives, when in fact he had put all the responsibility onto them; the blood would be on their hands, not his (he voted against airstrikes).

Then-prime minister David Cameron exhorted his MPs not to “sit on their hands” and side with Jeremy Corbyn and others he labelled “a bunch of terrorist sympathisers” – as usual, taking a leaf from the Nazi propaganda playbook. As Hermann Goering put it: “The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders… All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.”

Collateral damage caused by the bombings was huge. You may remember the image of a boy called Omran, sitting in an ambulance covered in blood, his face registering shock after he wiped it and his hand came away covered in blood. Hilary ‘Bomber’ Benn, who spoke eloquently in support of the airstrikes in December 2015, had nothing to say when challenged about it.

And the attacks caused huge numbers of people to become refugees – many of whom arrived in the UK to be greeted with sympathy by Tory and Labour MPs who had voted to cause their predicament.

Most pertinent to Ali Harbi Ali, though, is the fact that the airstrikes had little or no effect on IS. By February 19, 2016 – more than two and a half months after the December 2, 2015, vote – the total number of IS casualties achieved by the UK was seven.

Sure, IS was defeated in Syria and was driven out of that country in 2019 – but it seems likely to This Writer that this had more to do with the undemocratic decision to take further action in 2018, when MPs were not given a vote.

So this terrorist probably committed his murder on the basis of a misunderstanding about a massive Parliamentary mistake.

Source: Ali Harbi Ali guilty of murdering MP David Amess in terrorist attack | UK news | The Guardian

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Country of crime: UK becomes criminals’ paradise under Tories

Criminals must love the fact that we’ve had a Conservative government for nearly 10 years, allowing law-breaking to skyrocket.

We can put part of it down to the fact that Theresa May cut police numbers by more than 20,000.

But This Writer would also say that the Tories have encouraged criminal behaviour with divisive policies that set societal groups against each other.

So you get violence against people of different ethnic or religious groups, against people who are disabled, or who have long-term illnesses.

All of these have been endorsed by the behaviour of different Conservative ministers.

And now we see that the number of reported crimes in England and Wales leading to a person being charged – never mind convicted – has halved since 2015, falling from one in seven to one in 14.

The figures show that in the year to September 2019, knife crime had risen to an all-time high. Weren’t the Tories going to crack down on that?

At least fatal stabbings had fallen by 20 per cent – although that may be entirely due to circumstances in the communities, and nothing to do with the Tories or the police.

Likewise, murder and manslaughter fell, with the number of recorded deaths at a still-monstrous 617.

Robberies – thefts from people, accompanied by threats of violence – were up, though, by 12 per cent.

Perhaps people realised they weren’t going to get any help from the police so they might as well come out with some cash.

It is a terrible decline for the country that introduced police to the world, back in the 19th century.

This Writer has been lucky enough not to have to report a crime to the police recently – but I know people who have, and I know the reception they’ve had.

It was very poor.

Genuine crimes are being ignored, and the victims fobbed off with feeble excuses.

Tories don’t care. They can afford private security.

And don’t you get the feeling they begrudge providing the rest of us with any resort to the law at all?

Source: Crime: Number of suspects charged by police hits new low – BBC News

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This election, for all those who no longer have the chance to vote, please make yours count

Those are strong words from the Wear Red – Stand Up and Be Counted Facebook page (above).

For those who can’t read image files, it says:

“Up to 130,000 people have died because of austerity who aren’t able to vote on December 12.

“Hundreds of homeless people have died on the streets who aren’t able to vote either.

“Those from the Windrush generation who were unjustly deported aren’t able to vote.

“The sick people who died in hospital corridors waiting for medical treatment aren’t able to vote.

“The victims of unsolved knife crime because of 20,000 less police aren’t able to vote.

“The families burned to death in Grenfell Towers aren’t able to vote.

“They don’t have a voice any more, so on December 12, use your voice to speak for them and vote the Tories out.”

The text accompanying the image states [boldings mine]:

“This post is in memory of all those who can no longer vote because in some way their lives were irrevocably changed or lost forever because of how the Conservative government has treated them.

Remember them, because they could just as easily be you or someone that you love.

“We all fall on hard times at one point or another.

“That’s the whole point of society, is that we help each other in times of need, we do it without asking for anything in return because we actually care about each other.

“We don’t seek to sub-contract that care out to the lowest bidder and watch them make profit from your hardship.

“The Tories are ruining our society, they are selling it off in chunks to super rich private entities and leasing it back to you at twice the cost.

The by-product of this austerity is not only massive transfer of wealth into the hands of the few, but also thousands of people dying prematurely or being deported from their homes, widespread misery and stress for all low earners, sick, vulnerable and severely disabled people.

“We cannot emphasise enough how much good you will be doing by voting Labour in this election.

“Whether you care a little or a lot for politics, this election is a turning point for all of us.

“Protect your NHS, keep Trump’s hands off our health care, and most of all speak up for the countless victims of this warped ideology that would knowingly persecute sick people right up until the point where they died while being desperately in need of help.

“To think of this happening to one person is heartbreaking, but to 130,000 it’s almost unimaginable.

“Get out there on Dec 12, imbued with the spirit of these fallen souls, and send a clear message to Westminster that you’re not putting up with this way of doing things for one day longer.”

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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Long Brexit delay means May could turn to those ‘burning injustices’ – but will she? NO!

NOT YOU: This image was created for International Women’s Day, to show how little we all think of Theresa May.

Let’s not be daft.

Theresa May could soon be offered the “flextension” (if you like that sort of word) that European Council president Donald Tusk has been suggesting – of up to a year before the UK has to leave the EU, unless a deal can be arranged earlier.

It certainly seems possible that she will have until the end of 2019, at the very least.

Will she use the reprieve to address the “burning injustices” she has ignored so fastidiously since the day she first mentioned them on the steps of 10 Downing Street, back in 2016? Of course not!

She’ll be too busy trying to stop her party from self-destructing further than it has already; if there’s no Brexit until the end of the year, it means her own party will have an opportunity to oust her with a vote of “no confidence”, and then it might splinter as backbench MPs scurry to get behind one (or more) of the front-runners – and pray that they’ve chosen the right one.

Among those candidates will be Boris Johnson – despite the fact that he’s a grade-A, first class arsehead with no more regard for the rule of law than for an insect.

Only two days ago, at the time of writing, I was reporting his latest breach of House of Commons rules, which came after serial racism and sexism.

Now he has been revealed as one of 170 MPs who have bought homes using taxpayers’ money – claiming that they are second homes which they require to carry out their duties – only to enjoy a huge boost to their personal wealth because the buildings’ value has skyrocketed.

It seems 160 MPs have made £42 million profit by selling on their taxpayer-funded homes, including another possible Tory leadership candidate, Michael Gove.

Neither are suitable to lead a political party, let alone a nation. It is clear that they have regard only for themselves and are happy to elevate themselves by exploiting the people they are meant to serve.

Their popularity among the Conservatives is ample demonstration of that party’s unsuitability for government office.

But they are in office and we are where we are – in the middle of the enormous mess that they created.

Mrs May will have her hands full finding a solution to Brexit that the various factions in Parliament can support (or a majority of them, at least); and finding a successor to herself who will not drag the UK further into disaster (but will pretend that she was a better leader than she turned out to be).

She won’t do anything about the fact that, by the admission of her own Department for Work and Pensions, the number of disabled people in absolute poverty rose by 200,000 in a single year.

Nor will she do anything about the fact that Universal Credit has increased homelessness in two-thirds of local authority areas, according to homelessness charity CRISIS.

She is sure to be positively rejoicing in the fact that more and more families are being pulled into poverty by the ongoing benefits freeze:

Labour’s former shadow work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams, demanded an end to the benefits freeze yesterday – and got a weak answer from the tepid Liz Truss, yet again using the pathetic lie that work is the best way out of poverty (it isn’t – having wealthy Tory relatives is). She for yourself if you have the stomach for it:

And she won’t address the catastrophic funding gap facing our schools:

The above isn’t even an exhaustive list of Mrs May’s failures – I haven’t even mentioned her utter inadequacy on knife crime or the Windrush racism scandal. They are merely the most recent stories I found on Twitter.

Mrs May wants us to think of her as a good prime minister. But she’ll be remembered as good for nothing.


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This teacher set the record straight on who is responsible for rising youth crime: TORIES

The Mentorn TV executive who chooses Question Time audience members may be reviewing the company’s policy after this truth bomb dropped on the April 4 edition of the programme (there is a connection with the Conservative Party, as I understand it):

She was referring to the attempt by Home Secretary Sajid Javid – and by prime minister Theresa May, let’s not forget – to palm off responsibility for knife crime among young people onto teachers like herself.

As I wrote last week, she wants teachers to have a “public health duty” to identify warning signs that a young person could be in danger, such as worrying behaviour at school, issues at home, or “presenting at A&E with a suspicious injury”. For real?

There is an existing duty requiring teachers and police to work together to safeguard children. As a former Home Secretary, Theresa May should know that.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the teachers’ union the NASUWT, delivered the reality check to Mrs May when he said: “All professionals involved with children and young people are well aware of their responsibilities for safeguarding their health and welfare.

“Violent crime involving young people, of course, needs to be taken seriously and appropriate strategies considered. However, this is a complex issue which will not be resolved by putting additional pressures and responsibilities on teachers and head teachers or indeed others.”

No it will not.

But the very rich are looking for their next tax cut, aren’t they, Mrs May? And what’s a bit of extra crime among the plebs anyway? That’s just culling the stock. Am I right, Mrs May?

What do you think?


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