One of the reasons often overlooked is the high teen pregnancy rates we had in the 1990s and early 2000s. This means that there are many children who were born to children many of whom didn't have the parenting skills or the social support needed. Children in these circumstances tend to live in a home with an unskilled parent who is unemployed, so high levels of poverty. These children also tended to become teen parents living in a trap of poverty. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our current gang members being looked after by the street. These children have never been valued by society. They live on estates where everyone is poor and go to schools that are failing. Not only do these teens live in poverty but they are constantly being told by society what you must own to be valued. Enter the drug dealer who tells them that the quickest way own these things (i.e to earn value in society) is to sell drugs. It's obvious these are turf wars being played on our streets. When politicians ignore the poor there are consequences. When you see a high teen pregnancy rate in Afro-Caribbean girls and fail to act because they live in a small poor corner of England, remember it will come back to bite you. There's much talk but these children continue to be failed. It isn't just about youth clubs or police. It is about ensuring standards of housing, making sure our schools are full of well qualified teachers, not just those who don't mind living in the city. It is about giving people skills so that they can find well-paid jobs and feel worthy. It is about making sure you don't have three generations of a family on welfare.
I have to agree with all here. Austerity has been catastrophic for the poor and Sadiq Khan is out of his depth. He has no clue and is surrounded by people who think photo calls are the answer to all of London's problems. But frankly all the candidates that have been put forward by the different parties are no different to Khan. I haven't seen any previous experience that suggests they will be any better.

‘Oh for goodness sake’ is maybe a churlish way to start don’t you think ?



Parenting (lack of) has a lot to do with the current issues, it’s not up to the State to take total responsibility in bringing our children up. We all have responsibility to know what our children are upto and nurture them. Obviously you will never stop the few rogue children getting into crime, however much money the State spends.

When I grew up nobody carried knives and we didn’t have lots of money then, there is more to this situation than ‘supposed state cutbacks’, like it or not, immigration has a big part to play in this.

Khan wanted to stop all stop and search, one of the biggest detergents for people carrying knives and drugs. His record shows more murders than anyone can believe and he just can’t solve the big London issues of crime and murder - he is out of his depth. The next mayor should defiantly from a police background.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politic ... 24706.html

We all have to live within our financial means, voting in a different political party that spends and spends on never never money (as that is what would happen) is not the answer either. We need to solve this in other ways. National service could be a good way.


Ps And whilst we are talking about Khan, wait until the 24/7 ULEZ comes to Wandsworth in 2021 and you probably have to pay £11 EVERY time you get in your car and drive inside the south circular, another of Khan’s creations. Are we all aware of this? Otherwise many of us will have to fork out for new cars instead.

Oh, and the London mayors part of council tax went up 9% this year, hardly helping parents have money left over to pay for children’s clubs. I haven’t even had a pay rise this year.

Oh for goodness sake Daddydaycarerocks, it is absolutely nothing to do with the Mayor.

This country has been in a state of austerity for years now.
Parents who have needed help with their children have not been able to get it after this government shut down funding for the Sure Start Centres, social care....pretty much everything...even the 1pm clubs.

When parents cannot access help, children suffer.

School clubs are cut so children are just hanging out on the streets.

This current situation has been entirely created by this government doing nothing.

On top of that our police have also been cut.

Nothing to do with Sadiq Khan....everything to do with the Conservative government.

Police numbers cut, fewer specialist armed police, drastic cuts to neighbourhood policing and cuts to youth clubs and youth service funding. What did the government think was going to happen? London and other big cities are bearing the brunt of this pointless and counterproductive austerity.

Really sad

Definitely time for a new government to invest in communities and the police to stop this horrific waste of life.

Very sad

Definitely time for a new London Mayor to bring some new ideas to stop this horrific waste of life.

Two teenagers were killed and three others were stabbed during a 12-hour spree of violence in London.

Fourteen people have been connected to the incidents in Wandsworth, Plumstead and Clapham.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he was "sickened" following the deaths of the two teenage boys in Wandsworth and Plumstead.

Metropolitan Police were called to Wandsworth, south-west London, at 4.42pm last night where the victim, believed to be in his late teens, was found stabbed.

He is yet to be formally identified.

Six males were taken to a west London police station for questioning.

A few minutes later at 4.54pm, armed police were called to Plumstead following reports of a shooting.

The victim, also in his late teens, was found with critical injuries and died at the scene.

Three men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of murder.

Then at 3.22am on Saturday, police were called in Clapham. Three men were found with stab and slash injuries.

The condition of two of the men remains unknown. The third has injuries which are described as not life-threatening or life changing.

A source told ITV News that a cordon will remain in place around Clapham High Street until they know if the attack is fatal.

Four men have been arrested in connection to the incident.

Sadiq Khan has urged that “Anybody who has information about what happened either in Wandsworth or Greenwich should do the right thing and call the police.”

Photo: Police have cordoned off the scene around Clapham North Tube station. Credit: PA

Photo: Police officers near to the scene in Deeside Road in Wandsworth  Credit: Isabel Infantes/PA