Shropshire Star comment: Knife Angel's message needs backing up with action
The Knife Angel is undoubtedly one of the most striking pieces of art to have been created in this country in recent years.
Consisting of around 100,000 knives that have been confiscated by police forces, the towering sculpture is impossible to ignore.
But putting aside its rather unique beauty, it should not be forgotten that the sculpture highlights a crucial message that we can all get behind. At a time of rising knife crime, where more and more young people consider it normal behaviour to carry a blade, the Knife Angel is a stark representation of our determination as a society to address this issue.
Over the past year it has been on display in locations including Coventry and Birmingham. It is now in Newtown, is due to go to Telford’s Southwater in the coming months, and plans are now afoot to take it to Wolverhampton in April.
As it continues its tour around the country, it is worth reflecting again on the message being conveyed by the Knife Angel.
There is no doubt that an awful lot of hard work is going on across our region in the battle to combat knife crime.
But alongside the excellent community work, our police forces must be given the resources to deal with those carrying blades.
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On top of that, the government must look at the sentencing guidelines around all forms of violent crime as a matter of urgency.
No one wants to see young people needlessly locked up, but those who are determined to carry and use knives must know that if snared, they will face the full force of the law.
For too long, criminals have been allowed to commit violent crimes with little fear of prosecution. The time for soft sentences is over.
If our public health approach to knife crime is to stand any chance of being successful, it must run alongside a commitment to hit violent criminals with the strongest possible sentences.
The British Ironwork Centre and sculptor Alfie Bradley deserve huge credit for continuing to draw attention to this extremely worrying issue.
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In recent years it has become de rigueur to speculate that Saturday night television is facing its death knell.
Yet each time commentators mourn its passing and get all nostalgic about its heyday, a new show appears that has viewers glued to their screens.
Ant and Dec did it at the turn of the century with Saturday Night Takeaway, as did Strictly Come Dancing, X Factor and The Voice.
The latest big hit appears to be ITV’s The Masked Singer, which topped the ratings with an average audience of 5.5 million viewers this past weekend.
The show, which sees celebrities singing anonymously while dressed up in ridiculous costumes, will be seen as mindless tripe for some, while others will view it as a fun-filled frolic.
It certainly proves one thing.
In an age when mainstream channels face competition from streaming and the plethora of live televised sporting events, a bit of old fashioned fun can still have families gathering around the box in their millions for some escapism.
In our troubled world, that is something we all need from time to time.
