Idris Elba asks Britain to do one thing to stop knife crime — it won't work

Idris Elba should stick to acting (Image: Getty Images)

I really wish celebrities would stay out of matters they know nothing about. Luther actor Idris Elba has waded into the knife crime debate by suggesting we blunt all our kitchen knives to stop our epidemic of street stabbings. Talk about off-target rather than on-point.

Where would we stop? Ban scissors, no more garden shears, plastic cutlery in restaurants…? No, Mr Elba, what we need is for tougher justice to tackle the lawless scrotes who’ve taken over our communities.

If you want to make a difference, how about instilling good sense in kids through funding targeted talks and rehabilitation programmes?

I’d much rather that than you ruining my kitchen knife collection, thank you very much.

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Can anybody please tell me what’s behind people’s obsession with filming everything on their phones? It’s a modern sickness, truly.

Even when Hamas terrorists were releasing Israeli hostages in Gaza, you could see the crowd hoisting their phones onto selfie sticks to record the moment.

But it’s worse than that. In December, as a woman was set alight on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York, people stood around and filmed her being burned to death, rather than acting to try to save her life.

Honestly, I’m not quite sure what on earth is going through someone’s mind at that moment. I suppose they want to put it all on social media – but how callous can you get?

It’s symptomatic of the age we now live in. We’ve become perpetual bystanders, conditioned to react to any situation with a phone as if we’re one of Pavlov’s dogs.

And if you ask me, it’s stopping us from knowing how to live in the moment. Tourists forget to take in their beautiful surroundings, so preoccupied are they with their screens.

There’s hardly a book or a newspaper to be seen on a train. And concertgoers seem to think you need to enjoy live music by recording and watching the experience on a tiny screen.

What’s more, I bet most never take a second glance at home. It’s ridiculous.