Guns.

The Government's plans for 'drop-off zones' for illegally held guns is at best a pathetic response to the problem. It does nothing to address and correct the core problem of why some children and youths feel obliged to carry such weapons and why they are so alienated from the rest of us.

For at least two decades successive governments have been warned about the inevitability of a breakdown in society if no action was taken to stop the increasing number of young people being shunted in to an expanding underclass and little or nothing has been done about it.

What is needed is action to create a more egalitarian and equal society. The disgrace of the very rich being allowed to live and work here when they are non-resident for taxation purposes would be a useful start. Immediate investment in education to bring our state schools up to the standard of public schools is an absolute priority. We need to stop fiddling with exams and other aspects of the education system. What is required is real investment to ensure that the school environment and facilities match the best available in public schools, that Headmasters are free to run their schools without interference, that class sizes are reduced by at least half and that salaries are such that they attract the best of talent into the teaching profession.

Perhaps if these and other measures were taken now to attack the basic problem we could anticipate a more decent society in ten-twenty years time.