Get tough on knife crime

BESt of luck to our new Prime Minister, Liz truss. the challenges ahead will be as enormous as the ones faced by Boris Johnson.

Her three opening objectives are admirable and relevant: addressing the energy crisis, building the economy and supporting the NHS.

But she must also address the biggest challenge of all: taking gun and knife crime off our streets.

We always hear of the maximum sentence for various crimes, but what we need are minimum sentences. If you carry a knife, you should go to prison for ten years; carry a firearm and it’s 20 years.

Yes, initially the prisons would fill with the idiots who don’t get the message. But then the penny would start to drop.

too many criminals are prepared to take the risk of carrying a deadly weapon if there isn’t a deterrent. So, Liz, introduce meaningful sentences before the streets are uncontrollable and more lives are lost.

MICHAEL CUMISKEY, Oldham, Gtr Manchester.