A Conservative MP wants to fit a GPS tracker in your kitchen knife to stop stabbings

Scott Mann MP
Avatar


On 14 March, Conservative MP Scott Mann offered his solution to the rise in knife crime in England and Wales.

‘A GPS tracker fitted in the handle’

The MP for North Cornwall posted:

 

Related articles

People widely derided the suggestion:

Some were more forthright about this comically nonsense solution to a serious problem:

And others had a few similar suggestions for Mann:

Let’s address the root causes

Mann’s comment came as another teenager fights for his life after a stabbing at London’s Leyton tube station. The number of fatal stabbings in England and Wales has reached the highest level since records began.

But while better-policing techniques could help in the short term, they don’t address the fundamental issue. On BBC Question Time on 7 March, columnist Owen Jones laid out the root causes of knife crime:

The easiest thing I could now do is put the boot into the government over those 21,000 police cuts… But I worry this debate often is too focused on the issue of… law and order… What do we expect when hundreds of youth clubs have been closed…. when the wages of young people are falling more than any other age group… when the government slash per-pupil funding… when mental health services are so under-resourced that 150 kids are being turned away every single day…

There’s no doubt Mann’s suggestion is ridiculous. But that doesn’t negate the serious issue of knife crime. Tory austerity combined with increasing inequality has created a fertile environment for gang culture and knife crime. Investment in education and opportunities for young people are needed to solve the issue at its roots.

Featured image via BrexitCentral/ YouTube

We need your help ...

The coronavirus pandemic is changing our world, fast. And we will do all we can to keep bringing you news and analysis throughout. But we are worried about maintaining enough income to pay our staff and minimal overheads.

Now, more than ever, we need a vibrant, independent media that holds the government to account and calls it out when it puts vested economic interests above human lives. We need a media that shows solidarity with the people most affected by the crisis – and one that can help to build a world based on collaboration and compassion.

We have been fighting against an establishment that is trying to shut us down. And like most independent media, we don’t have the deep pockets of investors to call on to bail us out.

Can you help by chipping in a few pounds each month?

The Canary Support us

Related articles