I cannot believe how rapidly London is turning into the crime-capital of Europe. It is worrying and embarrassing to see this, once great and safe city, descending into something approaching the crime-ridden nightmares of certain third-world or US cities. This year already there have been eighteen murders due to fatal knife-stabbings and, astonishingly, the number of edged-weapon attacks in London only was over 54, 000 (that’s not a typo: it actually says fifty-four thousand!) last year; over 46% of school children have admitted to carrying knives for self-defence and one in five 16 year olds has admitted to attacking someone with a knife [1]. These statistics are truly horrifying and, it is obvious, the Government needs to take drastic measures to control this epidemic and go beyond the usual platitudes and expressions of horror on media sound-bites. Such is the horror in Britain at this new, very un-British, phenomenon, that the London Metropolitan Police have declared tackling knife-crime to be their new number one target surpassing even that of terrorism.

I therefore present my draconian solution below. Though I write draconian, I do honestly believe that such an approach as I detail below is actually sensible in that it contains both the long-term and the immediate and middle-term solutions. Thus:

1. Bring back the grammar schools. Education, or lack of, is at the root of the social breakdown in this country as non-academic children are forced to go through an essentially academic curriculum. The comprehensive one-shoe-size-fits-all experiment has not only failed but has destroyed this country. Bring back the 11-plus and Grammar schools for the academically gifted so poor and working class, but bright, children can also educate themselves out of poverty and aspire to greatness.

2. Education should only be compulsory up to 14. You cannot force non-academic teens to become academic by making them stay on until 16 (now to be 18!) and get meaningless (and useless) qualifications just to help massage the Government's artificial employment and education targets. Also, get rid of all targets and league-tables --except the one's that matter: external examination results at 16 and 18. Also get rid of the ridiculous SATs.

3. Introduce mandatory Apprenticeships and Trade Schools for those who fail to (or do not wish to) get into the Grammar schools for the less academically-gifted. Or join the workforce at 14 doing manual labour such as cleaning the streets, collecting the rubbish, etc. (i.e. making a contribution to society). This sensible model used to work in the past and will do so again with sufficient government funding.

4. Introduce Military Schools for the problem children and unruly teenagers who do not learn or who misbehave at any of the types of school listed above.

5. Remove social security benefits for those who do not successfully graduate either from the grammars, the apprenticeships or trade or military schools, or who do not wish to work at 14, and draft them into the armed forces. I am a big fan of the European Welfare State but it should only be available for those who contribute positively to it via taxation. Criminals and delinquents should be made aware that they will no longer be allowed to sponge off the rest of society.

6. Reintroduce the full student grant and get rid of university fees for those bright enough to make it to University. Cap the percentage of students going to University at 10-15% i.e. only the top 10-15% of students should be admitted into University to read for a first degree. This will not only make a University education viable again for those from the not-so well-off classes but also remove the fear of massive debt upon graduation as well as driving up standards. For those going to the trade schools/apprenticeships give full government funding and financial support.

7. Introduce a one-year compulsory conscription into either the Armed or Police or Civil Services for 18 year olds/school-leavers.
8. With immediate effect arm all police officers in London with firearms and tasers with stop-and-search powers.

9. Use the Territorial Army to patrol the more violent and knife-crime prone burroughs of London.

10. Make it illegal to carry any type of knife or gun or other weapon with an immediate 10 year prison sentence if found with no hope of parole or reduced sentencing and with hard-labour. The alternative option will be to join the Army.

11. Introduce prison sentences with hard-labour.

12. Make it a criminal offense to be a member of a gang and outlaw gangs with the punishment for all those caught in gang warfare immediate dispatchment to Iraq, Afghanistan, or other theatres of war or imprisonment, or, for non-British citizens, deportation back to their country of origin.

13. Reintroduce the death penalty for first-degree murder.

14. Ban all sorts of rap and other music in which the lyrics glorify violence, drugs, gang-membership, gang-wars.

15. Legalise all drugs (as in Portugal and parts of Switzerland) to remove the profit from drug-crimes, and hence the criminal element, and provide government-controlled centres for addicts to get their controlled doses until they can be successfully weaned off.

Though I am confident such an approach would work, sadly none of the political parties in the UK, it seems, have the vision or courage to implement them. If they do not the result will continue to be more social chaos as parts of London descend into no-go areas of criminal activity run by groups of rival gangs.