Knife crime: “I told you so”

Have you ever wanted to scream “I told you so”? It hasn’t worked, and I told you it wouldn’t.

It is now on record that the £12 million of tax payer’s money this Government has poured into fighting knife crime has been an utter waste. It just hasn’t worked, and those that know me will verify that I have been very vocal about so-called ‘Government strategies’ being a complete waste of time and public money.

When are the people that decide on these policies going to recognise that the only ones who really understand knife crime on the streets of Britain are the people that commit it? Furthermore, the vast majority of these people have no interest whatsoever in what the law says about knives, and even less regarding what spews out of 10 Downing Street. What’s more, the mainstream of those who would like to get rid of their knives are unlikely to do so because they believe being unarmed in a war zone is stupid in the extreme.

Violent crime has been allowed to soar

In the past ten years violent crime has been allowed to grow by 77% in the UK. According to various statistics, this is higher than for any other country in Europe. At present, violent crime accounts for more than 1.15 million of the total crimes committed in the UK each year. Having to live in a country that is not only under the ever present threat of terrorism, but also has more than 70 reported knife attacks every day and we all could be forgiven for feeling a little under threat.

Whether the Government likes to admit it or not, the UK is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic, and rightly or wrongly the public’s perception is that such crime is out of control.

Over the past few weeks, at the cost of millions, every household in the UK has been mailed with a 12-page leaflet on how to protect yourself and your loved ones against Swine Flu. You can obtain this information in about 15 different languages, on audio tape, in extra large print and even in Braille.

Please let me pose a very simple question… Where is the 12-page Government leaflet that tells you how to protect yourself and your loved ones against an epidemic of weapons-related street crime that has been allowed to grow into a colossal malignant cancer already responsible for destroying thousands of lives?

As a nation we should be mortally embarrassed that, in the 21st Century, the British people have allowed the horrendous decline in values and discipline to ravage our streets and terrorise our citizens.

Want to cut knife crime? Educate the victims

I have said it over and over and over again, and I make no apologies for sounding like a broken record, but it’s a no-brainer…If you want to cut knife crime then educate the victims. To date I have not met one person that disagrees with that statement.

It’s the victims who pick up the tab for the Government getting it wrong. It’s the victims that suffer in silence while huge amounts of Government resources are being poured into futile initiatives that just don’t work.

We are all victims of violent crime and, as such, every citizen in this country should have access to information that helps them to understand the threat and gives them options on what they can do to avoid and survive it.

I wonder how much the British tax payer has paid for these pearls of wisdom printed it the Swine Flu leaflet. Under the headline ‘Catch It, Kill It, Bin It’, we are told to:

• Always carry tissues

• Use clean tissues to cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze.

• Bin the tissues after one use

• Wash your hands with soap and hot water or a sanitiser gel often

Well here’s one for all of you on the subject of street crime. Accept this advice with my complements. Under the heading ‘Accept It, Avoid It, Survive It’, I would say this:

• Complacency will steal your life - accept the fact that weapons-related street crime is now part of your life and will never go away

• Do everything in your power to stay away from the people and avoid the places that might endanger you

• Learn how to recognise the danger signs that always precede an attack - this will help you to survive, and remember that survival is all you can ever hope for

Stop the talking and do something

It’s time to stop talking and take action. If the Government and the police won’t do it, I’ll do it and I’m willing to work together with like-minded people and organisations who believe my words to have merit to generate the funding and get on with the job. While the Government wastes more and more of the tax payer’s money, people are dying and lives are being destroyed for lack of information.

The front cover of the Swine Flu leaflet displays a clear message: “This leaflet contains important information to help you and your family”.

Well, there should also be a leaflet that says: “This leaflet contains important information to help you and your family stay safe from violent street crime and knife attacks”

There. I have thrown down the gauntlet. Who will pick it up and work with me?

Could you survive an unremitting attack delivered by a desparate, and non-remorseful street marauder wielding a razor sharp blade? Well, I did just that, but for 90% of us the answer to that question would be NO! Unless you respond with your ego, that is. The knife is a primitive edged tool that has been lacerating and puncturing human flesh for thousands of years, and will continue to do so if for no other reason than it’s a low cost and convenient intimidation device that can almost guarantee consistent and bloody results. It is not surprising, therefore, that such a primitive tool sits very comfortably within the primitive minds of those that carry them on our streets. The nation should be mortally embarrassed that in the 21st century the British people have allowed the horrendous decline in values and discipline to ravage our streets and terrorise our citizens. The whole country is in the grip of horrifying weapons related violent crime. Even the sugar coated police and government statistics on reported knife attacks are appalling. There are hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in the UK who may have never been attacked but are still literally living in fear of street violence. Every day there are people who are forced to come to terms with the thought that today could be the day when it’s their turn to become yet another police statistic. The government of course will set up yet another working party, another study group, another committee and spend countless millions just trying to understand the problem before they even start to implement proposals that might, or might not solve it. The police will try to get tougher, and more people may end up in prison, but at what cost, and who picks up the tab? The victims, that’s who. It all burns up more and more resources and will, by its very nature, almost certainly take a colossal amount of time. In the interim, however, the brutal reality is that the next innocent victim laying on a hospital bed, or worse a mortuary slab, with a knife stuck in their guts ‘HAD NO TIME!’ No time for the governments study group to come up with a new law. No time to call 999 and wait for the police to come to the rescue, and no time to try and re-educate the 12 year old kid that stabbed them. If you become a victim you are in the moment, you are on your own in a wilderness of fear and pain. Huge amounts of government resources are being poured into trying to educate and give the perpetrators of these crimes other lifestyle options, and rightly so. However, I do not believe there is one single penny being invested into trying to educate the victims and give them options on what they can do to avoid and survive dire life threatening situations. Ok, so that’s my little rant, but it takes me right back to that first question…’Could you survive an unremitting attack delivered by a desperate, and non-remorseful street marauder wielding a razor sharp blade?’ The answer should be and could be YES! If a tiny fraction of the time and funds that are being poured into trying to educate the perpetrators were diverted into educating the victims our streets would be much safer places to be. Take note I said educating, and that does not mean teaching people how to fight, on the contrary. Every citizen in this country should have access to information that helps them to understand the threat and gives them options on what they can do to avoid and survive a knife attack.