She's off again! This time on people caught carrying knives. Here

Just where does she think these ideas up. Some of my favourite lines:

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..visits to A&E wards where people are being treated for knife wounds...

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"It is simplistic and wrong to pretend that prison is an easy answer to all of society's problems,"

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The police, as well as judges and community leaders don't want every single young person found carrying a knife jailed, especially when we know that tough community sentences including community payback, supervision and electronically monitored curfews are more likely to stop them carrying knives in the future."

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Ms Smith's proposals will see young people caught carrying knives being made to go to accident and emergency wards, to see the consequences of stabbings.

They will meet victims' families and make prison visits to people convicted of knife offences.

To be fair, there are no details yet of how this will work (typical of this government's tactics of open mouth first, deal with the practicalities later )

But I wonder:-

Will victims and their families actually want to meet knife carriers ? Haven't they suffered enough ?

Who is going to take the knife carriers to the hospitals or prisons?

How many people are caught carrying knives as compared to the number of conveniently-available victims in hospital or prison? Will victims be subjected to maybe 10 visits from carriers ?
Or will the carriers be taken round in batches ?

How long do victims of stabbing stay in hospital ? Will the government set up a register of available victims rather like the organ donor system ?

What arrangements will be made for follow-up ?

It will be interesting to see the detail.

You're right the sheer logistics of it seem to point to it already having failed. Its being called a panic decision by a party that refuses to admit that knife crime statistics are through the roof today.
God! More of these idiots with their ideas or that smarmy Cameron? Seems a lose lose situation.

It has been shown, particularly with thieves who steal to fuel a drug habit, that showing them the consequences of their actions is a revalation to them. All they tend to see is them getting away with nicking something that can be sold to raise cash.

Afterwards, they see that someone is upset or angry after the break in. Old people can be quite shaken. The home owner has to replace the window and the stolen item at a cost far greater than the thief sold it for and they see all the upset caused.

Trials in this area show that some thieves are quite upset when they realise the consequences. It is the spur that makes them go to rehab courses and things.

Of course, the rest of them are scum who take vindictive pleasure at upsetting people. Prison for knife carriers should be a suspended sentace. Go on the gory hospital visits by all means. Those who are shocked keep the sentance suspended. The others do time. Remember that most of the kids who carry knives do so by peer pressure only. They are ordinary kids just like yours. Are you sure your teenages dont have a fruit knife or something hidden on their person? Want them to go to jail just for being caught?

I'd like to see evidence of this? I see kids day in day out carrying knives and robbing people on the street (well I don't see it or I'd stop it ) They never show remorse despite as you say seeing the victim having to rebuild things. They are usually people who they know or at least on the same estate/area as them and they show nothing but contempt.
As for the question would I want my kid locking up? Very hard to answer this as I have no kids besides the fact that I can't keep a girlfriend I just don't think that I could or would want to bring a kid up in this day and age but my parents always told me that if I did anything bad then they wouldn't hesitate to ring the police so I can only say off the back of that, that I would probably do the same.
Peer pressure is a problem, I understand that but I think parents have a big part to play. They have an incline of what their kids are up to. Who they are hanging around with and they must start wondering what's going on when their kids start coming in at 11-12 o clock at night or where all their extra money is coming from. Parents can pick up on this and they either choose to ignore it, go along with it themselves or go about stopping it and I think just too many parents just ignore it and take no action. When this is the case then the child is never going to learn and so a spell in borstal is the only way forward I feel. But then starts the arguement of prisons being too cushy eh?

It seems that Jaqui has already changed her mind - she appears to be going for the record for the quickest U-turn in history...

Apparently teachers are to be given powers to search pupils for drugs, alcohol and knives now. How long before the accusations of sexual molestation etc are brought against those teachers foolish/brave enough to do this?

A guy from my small town stole £300 from a local shop by holding it up with a bb gun. He was only discovered when his mother questioned him where he got this extra cash and then promptly marched him round to the police station. The family are a good family he is just a bit of a hell raiser. Most of these yobs don't have parents like that who care what their kids get up to. If they did care then the kids wouldn't be on the streets in most cases anyway.

the biggest problem for me witht he legislation is that as far as I am aware it is down to the discretion of the officer what counts as reasonable cause for carrying a knife, so much as your farmers, raf etc should be able to safely, it onyl takes one cop who doesnt like you and your f***ed as usual. I used to have a 4 inch serrated lock knife that liked in my waterproofs for sailing. If I nip to the shop Im f***ing careful to take it out my pocket now, and for no good reason bar red tape and a hatred of ***** in uniform

Editied........Please tone down your language....Fozzie

[Edited on 16-7-08 by Fozzie]

I don't believe it... I really don't...

BBC LINK

Banning guns hasn't stopped gun crime increasing, so why would this bright idea?

Morons...

I still carry my pen knife in my pocket. The only person I've ever cut with it is myself . I do find it invaluable at times especially when camping which we've just come back from.