A weapon is only a weapon when its held by a person

Its nice to see Sunday Herald commentator Ian Bell and I on the same track when it comes to air craft carriers and our need or lack of need for them.

On the subject of weapons I thought Bishop John Sentamu's comments of knife crime were spot on as well. He is absolutely right to say we need to start with the child and not the knife. The systemic change in youth culture that is needed to stop knife crime will not be achieved by punitive legislation or constantly increased levels of enforcement. The trouble is, because political debate is now being being framed by the right wing agenda of people like the so called Tax Payers Alliance and their ilk, their consumerist agenda when "you pay your money and you get product" means they want instant answers for problems that cannot be solved overnight.

The tax payers alliance is an oxymoron because the last thing they want to do is pay tax. They certainly don't want to spend money on the kind of real and lasting solutions that Bishop Sentamu is calling for, to look past the knife and start healing, not criminalising the child.