Politics stoops low (again) with 'knives out' commentary

Some election commentators, as well as some Press reporting, make me feel sick. Now that Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has made some progress in the first debate, knife stabbing metaphors are pouring out of the pores of political outlets.

And I'm sure it's not just me that feels sick about it - any victims, friends or relatives connected to stabbings will not feel at all comfortable that terms like 'knife sharpening' are being bandied about - whether in politics, the workplace or elsewhere. To suggest the violent career 'death' of a political opponent is not something to be savoured like some kind of favourite meal - in fact, it is immoral to will or wish the death of another by any violent means and should be abhorrent to those with a conscience.

The relish shown by the headline writers is truly appalling: "Knives out for Clegg"; "Knives out for LibDems". In fact, it's lazy journalism. Such 'knifing' talk needs to be questioned and challenged. Worse still are those (mainly older) commentators who are loving to talk about dark political manoeuvrings that might lead to achievement of some kind of Julius Caesar moment. Those that relish this language ought to stop, think, reflect and re-evaluate their style of language.

You can view the huge array of political knifing comments here. Once again, politics is managing to demonstrate an underlying flaw and failure of our society - that it must use knife analogies to achieve political and other 'ambitious' ends.

Well, it should stop. It is no example to set society at large, let alone any impressionable young people. If not, knife crime culture will remain embedded in the UK psyche. Take the knife metaphors out of the English language - now (please).

Trying to cope with the loss of loved ones by violence

DO NOT lose heart or hope! The steeper the road, the faster it rises toward ever wider horizons.

Life is a talent entrusted to us so that we can transform it and increase it, making it a gift to others. No man is an iceberg drifting on the ocean of history. Each one of us belongs to a great family in which he has his place and his own role to play.

Selfishness makes people deaf and dumb; love opens eyes and hearts, enabling people to make that original and irreplaceable contribution which, together with the thousands of deeds of so many brothers and sisters, often distant and unknown, converges to form the mosaic of charity which can change the tide of history.

(Said by a greater man than me!)

George Kinsella on knife crime and sentencing of his son Ben's killers - video

Thought I would try to piece together the full text of the emotional but careful and measured reaction from George Kinsella to the sentencing of the killers of his 16-year-old son Ben Kinsella.

To my mind, it was an insightful, informative perspective on this nation's knife crime problem.

I'll add and edit this post over a few days - I need to trawl the web's news sources, get it into reasonable shape and order. Feel free to send your comments or parts of the reaction that I may miss or not got quite right.

Mr Kinsella said: "How many families like ours will have to stand on the street outside the Old Bailey to get justice?

"Knife crime is now sadly embedded in the heart of Great Britain, always running the lives of gangs and feral youths.

"Parents live in fear until their children are safely home. It could be a wrong word, a wrong look or the wrong postcode.

"In Ben's case, it was something which was nothing to do with him at all."

Life sentences for Ben Kinsella's killers - video of reaction and comment from family and officials at the Old Bailey after the knife crime case.

Hospital knife crime statistics show stabbings down

A little bit of good news in the knife crime 'theatre of war' - latest UK knife crime figures show hospitals treated less stabbings in 2008 than in the year before that.

A total of 5,239 stab victims were admitted to NHS hospitals - including 609 youths aged under 18. This is 481 less than the 5,720 figure of 2007. See 'Knife injury hospital admissions down eight per cent'.

That number is still in the thousands but perhaps it shows that campaigning is having an effect. Imagine if no-one spoke out - knife use could be spiralling upwards.

In addition, more criminals who carry and/or use blades are being jailed. See 'More knife carrying criminals sentenced to prison'.

Senior MP Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, said, "This sends a very important message to knife criminals and would-be knife carriers to pack it in."

On the other hand, given the massive outcry against knife use - and those that carry blades 'for protection' - I feel the figure ought to be lower. These figures indicate just how difficult and challenging it is to win over hearts and minds and persuade people to lay down weapons and never again pick them up.

I find myself thinking of society like a fine piece of timber and the knife carriers as bloody woodworm burrowing into many parts of the healthy structure, making it weaker. Destroying the worm and making society healthy again is a tough call. Let's keep on...

Knife crime in the UK - thought for these violent times

"So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private citizens will occasionally kill theirs." - author and publisher Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915