in principle i would agree with you. The subtle part is context, a granny standing in her front garden and using a kitchen knife to prune her Roses is hardly a threat to joe public. The difficult legal point is about the context and the intent.

a plumber carrying his toolbox 20 yards from his van to a job is theoretically carrying many lethal weapons.

a 16 year old hoody walking through the whitgift centre with a large butchers knive concealed in his sock is deserving of a long stretch in prison, his young age should not get him off taking some responsibility for his actions.

Edited by PalazioVecchio (06 Apr 2018 1.24pm)

Any granny worth her salt will be using a proper pair of secateurs! And her front garden is private property, we're talking in public places.

Plumber, builder, chef etc are all fine and easily provable.

A young person, or unemployed person, would not be able to use such excuses.

Did Lammy really blame Albanians???

Fair play to him.... He has the balls of a buffalo.

He knows who is to blame.

The thing is,.its politically toxic to say young black men are involved in gang crime.... Lammy, as a black politician has the platform to say things other politicians can't. For him to blame Albanians tells me all I need to know about his priorities (and it ain't stopping young black lads being killed).

He really did:

Drug gangs controlled by Eastern European criminals are fuelling the rising tide of violent crime in London, a Labour MP has claimed.

Asked who he thought was behind it, he said: "I do know from the police that there are big gangs - Eastern European, Albanian - they traffic people, they traffic drugs and they traffic guns."

The person suspected of shooting the girl in his constituency, is from Diane Abott's constituency, according to reports.

Change Lammy for a white politician and "Albanians" for "Jamaicans"

They'd be a outcry.

If I were a Albanian...I'd be pretty pissed off... I spend a lot of time in Hackney/Tottenham... I ain't worried about Albanians when I go to the cash point.

I understand they want to get re-elected... but he can't go blaming other groups just so he doesn't upset his core voter group.

This is too big a issue.

You obviously turned out alright 7. It's 'culture' and self determination, not genes. No one has to be a victim of their environment. Many people have an excuse to be wronguns, but it isn't compulsory.