Carrying a knife in public is now ingrained in the ‘collective DNA’ of a generation of youngsters, the Government admitted yesterday.

Police Minister Tony McNulty made the deeply disturbing remark as figures were released showing that every day, 38 victims of knife woundings are admitted to A&E departments.

The total of almost 14,000 last year is far worse than had been feared.

Grim claim: Police minister Tony McNulty, left, said knife crime 'goes to the heart of our society'

Ministers – accused of having no grip on the true scale of the problem – are planning to respond by forcing doctors to notify stabbing injuries to the authorities.

This is currently the case with gunshot wounds, and would be an acknowledgment that knives now pose as grave a danger to public safety as firearms.

Mr McNulty made the admission that carrying a blade is now commonplace while demanding tougher sentences for those caught with knives.

He told Sky News: ‘I’m afraid this is apparently a generational, almost cultural thing that’s getting in the collective DNA.

‘It’s not a cop- out to say this is

something that goes to the heart of our entire society.’

Ministers have only just begun recording figures for knife crime, with the first data due to be published this month.

But an analysis of hospital admissions data for England and Wales using Freedom of Information requests revealed that assaults and injuries from knives and sharp implements, together with sword and dagger injuries, resulted in 12,340 patients being admitted last year – 446 of whom were no older than 14.

This is an increase of 19 per cent on the 10,372 admissions five years ago. The latest figures from Northern Ireland and Scotland bring the total number of victims in Britain to 13,795 each year.

The latest statistics from hospitals in England alone highlight an 88 per cent rise in the number of children suffering stab wounds – from 95 in 2002-03 to 179 in 2006-07. And among those aged 16 to 18, there has been a 75 per cent rise from 429 to 752.

The number of prosecutions for possessing knives has rocketed from the 4,489 total in 1997, the year Labour came to power. By 2006, that figure had jumped to 7,699. Most avoided jail sentences.

The revelations undermine claims by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith last week that knife crime ‘is not more serious than it has been previously’.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said: ‘These figures provide a stark illustration of the rising levels of knife crime under Labour, which are now reaching epidemic levels.

'Violent crime has doubled in the last decade and it is of deep concern that so many young people are increasingly disinhibited about carrying and using knives on our streets.

‘Once again, that when it comes to tackling crime the Government has run out of ideas. This makes them part of the problem, not the solution.’

The plan to gather more information on stabbings was broadly welcomed. A report for the Policy Exchange think-tank, due to be published this week, warns of an ‘incomplete’ official picture of street crime.

The study found 27 per cent of the public have either been the victim of a violent crime committed by children or young people; had a gun or knife used against them, been threatened with one, or know a friend or relative who has had a gun

or knife used against them or who has been threatened with one in the past 12 months.

It also reveals that one person in five aged between 19 and 24 knows someone who has been threatened by a gun or a knife in the past year, while nearly three out of four police constables believe gang crime has increased in the past five years.

The dossier, written by Bob Golding, a former assistant chief constable, warns: ‘Legislation is a mess.

'There is no legal framework dealing with knives and offensive weapons as a whole.’

Gordon Brown is said to be studying the report, and considering changes to the law as a result.

Options include new penalties for possessing replica weapons, and scrapping a three-inch rule on knives which means only larger blades are banned from the street.

Meanwhile, in a further sign of alarm in the public sector, hospital trusts and local authorities are supplying body armour to front-line workers, including A&E staff, hospital porters, teachers, benefits officers and traffic wardens.

The Local Government Association said councils had started responding urgently to staff who ‘need a greater level of protection’.

Already more than 20,000 sets of Home Office-approved stab or bullet-proof vests have been issued to local government staff.