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Boys’ knife attack is proof of broken Britain, say Tories
Ellen Widdup06.04.09
Police were today granted more time to interview two boys over an attack which left an
11-year-old boy fighting for his life and a nine-year-old seriously wounded.
Magistrates allowed police to continue questioning the pair, aged 10 and 11, over the knifing in Edlington, near Doncaster.
The more seriously injured boy was found semi-conscious at the bottom of a wooded ravine on Saturday afternoon.
He was airlifted to Sheffield Children's Hospital, where his condition has improved to stable, but police said they did not expect to be able to speak to him today.
His companion was found in a street “dazed” and
covered in blood, witnesses said. He had surgery on a severe cut to one of his arms.
The attack caused a political row today as the Conservatives said it was proof of Britain's “broken society” under Labour and Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling clashed with Schools Secretary Ed Balls.
Mr Grayling told the Evening Standard: “Every parent across the country will be shocked and sickened by this show of brutality in children so young.
“A country where children are using extreme levels of violence against other children is a society which is going badly wrong. We need to start fixing Britain's broken society by getting to grips with the deep-rooted problems in many parts of this country.”
Mr Balls used a speech today to express his revulsion at the attack, but hit out at the Tories for trying to gain political capital from the violence.
“We were all deeply shocked by what we read,” he said. But I refuse to follow my political opponents and use cases like this to demonise every young person. The appalling actions of a tiny minority should not ruin things for the vast majority.”
Reader views (6)
And not forgetting of course Maggret Thatcher's statement when she was leader of the tory party[ There is no such think as society] Cameron much the same, catchy slogans and all spin. We might start to listen to you Mr Grayling if you and your party came up with a few less slogans less spin and concentrate on a few policies that might begin to fix a few of these problems.
- James Hennessy, london england
It's a shocking case but perhaps Mr Grayling could remind us under whose government the Jamie Bulger murder took place?
- Tonyb, Melbourne, Australia
Did not the BOLGER incident Happen during the Tories Government ?
- Bernard Parke, GUILDFORD
I am so glad we emigrated with our two children. Look at the home first. I cannot believe that children that young could be capable of such brutality. A lot of parents let their kids watch violent TV programmes and play extremely violent computer games - what can you expect?
- Barbara, Sydney, Australia
Surely the Jamie Bulger case showed that Britain was broken back then too and that was under the Tories if I remember rightly. Isn't it time the Tories stopped trying to make capital out of the misery THEY have inflicted on us. It was under Thatcher that quangos in this country mushroomed, it was the Tories that brought in targets in health and in schools that have driven standards ever lower as managers chase figures rather than results. Maybe some are willing to forget these things and the fact newspapers demanded that Labour expand these schemes not scrap them, I'm not willing to forget. The odd confession of culpability from Cameron is no longer enough.
- John, Stonehaven, UK
Edited by admin @ 2.27pm on April 6
Legal proceedings
- Ted, Loughborough
