We must find a long-term answer to violence

With each death the media bemoans the state of the nation and our politicians promise action. And then another teenager is murdered and the whole macabre carousel starts again.

But the awful truth is that these murders are not likely to stop any time soon since our responses remain too short-term.

These intermediate measures can help contain the problem, but until we address the root causes of this brutality - a lack of social mobility and of opportunity, family breakdown, welfare dependency, poverty and poor education - the killings will continue.

Sadly, our governmental structure works against long-term approaches. Politicians face understandable, but often unrealistic, demands for quick fixes, while public services are locked in a culture of yearly - or at best three yearly - cycles of inspection and funding. Luckily, the UK has a mechanism through which a long-term approach can be found - a Royal Commission.