UK government tackles knife crime

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown has unveiled a 125 million euro initiative to tackle the UK’s growing problem of youth crime and in particular its knife culture. It follows a recent spate of stabbing deaths.

“Too many people don’t feel safe in their streets or sometimes even their homes as a result of the behaviour of a minority,” said Brown. “We need to make it absolutely clear to everyone and especially to young people that in our country there are boundaries of acceptable behaviour – that it is completely unacceptable to carry a knife.”

Detection and punishment remain the bedrock of the action plan while problem families will receive parenting supervision orders.

Recent government-backed media campaigns to try to get young people to stop carrying knives appear to have had only a limited success. In London alone more than 50 people have been killed with knives so far this year.

Copyright © 2012 euronews