Sharpen up thinking on knife crime

THANKS to strict gun controls, Britain rarely witnesses the mass shootings that are tragically commonplace in America.

Which makes knives the easy weapon of choice, and not just in London. As we reveal today, knife crime is up 81 per cent in Leicestershire and 74 per cent in predominantly white middle-class Bedfordshire.

Which is why we welcome the crackdown Home Secretary Amber Rudd will announce tomorrow. New powers to arrest those with zombie knives, even if they keep them at home. Measures to stop under-18s buying knives online. Updated legislation to outlaw switchblades.

And after the horrors we have seen in the US, banning rapid-fire rifles from gun clubs will meet little opposition.

But there is more to fighting crime than targeting tools. For the law to be enforced we need the law enforcers to do it. And the Tories have cut 21,000 police officers since 2010.

Not only do we need more police on the streets but more embedded in our diverse communities – yet neighbourhood policing has also fallen victim to austerity.

In too many parts of our nation young people are alienated from those around them. And when they feel like outsiders, they turn to gangs for a sense of belonging.

To be tough on crime requires being tough on its causes. That is why Ms Rudd should look at Strathclyde’s violence-reduction initiative, which treats knife crime as a public health issue. Police work alongside teachers, doctors and social workers.

Prior to its introduction in 2005, Scotland was the most violent country in the developed world. Scots were three times more likely to be assaulted than Americans.

There were 35 knife deaths of youngsters in Britain last year. By helping gangsters with housing, relocation, employment and training, not one was in Scotland.

And that is the kind of imaginative, blue-sky thinking we need from our Home Secretary.