New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Politics
  2. Media
6 March 2019

Send in the army: stupid Tory “solutions” to knife crime

Political incorrectness gone mad.

By Media Mole

A spate of knife crime is upon us, and the Men Are Having Ideas.

Yes, two of the most ludicrous Tories have come up with two daft “solutions” to the growing rate of violent crime across the country.

With his signature idiot grin, the toy Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has suggested sending in the army. Again.

Ever playing soldiers, he has said the UK’s armed forces “stand ready” to intervene in knife crime, and that military personnel “would always be ready to respond”, while the Ministry of Defence “always stands ready to help any government department”.

Do the Tories not realise they’ve not only cut police numbers, but the defence budget too?

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

Details, details.

Next up was the former foreign secretary and sinister anti-clown Boris Johnson who used a column in the Daily Mail – the biggest weapon the government knows how to wield – to suggest beefing up stop-and-search powers, calling them “an essential tool of big-city crime fighting”.

Except, of course, they’re not.

While criticising City Hall for pandering to “politically correct squeamishness surrounding stop and search,” Johnson fails to mention that last January Sadiq Khan announced a “significant increase” in police’s use of stop and search and the Met increased its use of stop-and-search last year. Yet the number of arrests it yielded – at 16 per cent – was a lower proportion than in April 2016-March 2017 (17 per cent), and April 2017-March 2018 (19 per cent).

Johnson also mentions New York in the piece, but somehow omits that since police reduced their use of equivalent stop and frisk powers in the city, the murder rate has fallen to a record low.

Content from our partners
No health, no growth
Tackling cancer waiting times
Kickstarting growth: will complex health issues be ignored?