John Mann MP, Knife-crime and Boxing...

John Mann is Labour MP for Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, but during the week when he's in parliament he happens to live in the same block of flats in Waterloo that murdered teenager Arsema Dawit lived.

Yesterday he wrote an excellent article for The Sunday Mirror which I urge you to read. In it, he calls for a major increase in amateur boxing clubs - it's something he's been working on in his own former mining constituency - in order to give young people a controlled, focussed and safe environment for channelling their aggression.

To me, this makes a lot of sense - as a teenager growing up in Wandsworth I saw the positive effect places like Earlsfield boxing club (near where I lived) had on young boys. It's also a more tangible idea than just "giving kids something to do", and it also doesn't fall into the trap the opposition parties have slid into of assuming ever tougher legislation is the only answer available.

Not everyone will want to get involved in boxing but the sport is more likely to appeal to those who either feel the need to carry a knife because they don't feel able to defend themselves without a weapon, or those who regard themselves as tough and carry knives as symbols of that toughness.