Corbyn fails to identify the culprit of the knife-crime epidemic

Jeremy Corbyn’s task can rarely have been easier at PMQs. The knife-crime epidemic has filled our morgues with the bodies of youngsters slain for no reason. A lack of cops is behind the bloodletting. The headlines say it. Public opinion says it. The boss of the Metropolitan Police says it as well. All Corbyn had to do was identify the culprit.

‘Cop numbers are down. Are you abetting murder, prime minister?’

Simple as that. But instead of a personal query, he delivered a rambling, multi-topic speech that would have suited a book club for retired lady communists. He mentioned International Women’s Day. He touched on the gender pay gap. He drew attention to a south London MP whose mother once filled a deck chair on the Empire Windrush. And he offered his felicitations to a Liverpool MP who has just had a baby. Only then did he move to the bereaved families of the murdered kids.