Shortage of Youth Facilities Noted In Croxteth

According to Labour Councillor Rose Bailey on the Today Programme, that's a possible reason for any anti-social behaviour there might be.

She gave the impression the whole place was pretty law-abiding with few gang problems. Not the impression I get.

I await with trepidation the inevitable 'Don't demonise the kids' Guardian piece, as it's wheeled out yet again.

The natural horror felt at (insert appalling crime here) should not blind us to the fact that (crime is actually falling/it is all Thatcher's fault/such crimes have always been with us).

If we surrender to (the tabloid agenda/the Daily Mail hysteria/knee-jerk populism/the politics of the soundbite) and take the easy option of (jailing more of our young people/bringing back the birch/bringing back hanging/walling off the cities then bombing them/demonising our young people) we run the very real risk of (actually achieving something/alienating a generation/an invasion of killer bees).

There is only one answer. An enormous increase in the funding of (Sure Start schemes/outreach workers/emotional intelligence mentors/youth projects/anti-racist 5-a-day smoking cessation co-ordinators).