Editorial: There is no magic bullet to halt gang violence

Last week, Sir Alan Sugar gave his twopence worth on the problem: "It's like the weather. You know (a teenage stabbing) is going to happen, you just read to find out the details," he bemoaned. "We need to work with hoodies to understand them better, to find out why they've chosen the route they have." Well, if we refrain from defining "them" as "hoodies", we might start to build that understanding, Sir Alan.

It is to his credit that London's new Mayor, Boris Johnson, has installed a deputy mayor for young people. Ray Lewis, founder of Eastside Young Leaders' Academy in Newham, has pledged to appoint a "gangs tsar" to stem the tide of gang violence (see p15). Like The Apprentice's lead figure, Lewis is a straight-talking no-nonsense character. The academy claims the strict, disciplinarian style it deploys has diverted the majority of at-risk young people it works with on to the path of academic achievement. Lewis' tough talk on giving children boundaries signals a comeback via the Conservatives of the Respect agenda, which, since the creation of the Department for Children, Schools and Families with its joint responsibility for youth justice, has been quietly sidelined.