Sir Keir Starmer’s recent suggestion that the last Labour government’s Sure Start programme will be the model for his Labour administration reveals that new ideas can be found in old ones. Sir Keir was responding to serious youth violence in a thoughtful way. A recent survey suggested that almost half of children and young people were victims of, or witness to, violence, with a similar number reporting that the fear of violence impacted on their daily lives. While the carrying and use of weapons by a small minority is frightening – above all for their families – Labour is right to say a ban on knives is needed, but would be insufficient to tackle the wider societal malaise afflicting teenagers.
Neither are tougher sentences a solution, particularly given prisons’ poor record on training and rehabilitating offenders. The longer-term trend is concerning, particularly with regard to young people. While the number of knife offences committed by adults rose by 15% in the decade to 2023, the equivalent figure for the 10-17 age group was 21%. Underlying Sir Keir’s plans is the right thinking: that investment in young people is required for better, more productive communities.
