Policing and Crime Bill

I am not here to defend the Government. My organisation, the Centre for Social Justice, produced an important report on gangs and gang-related violence after its members had travelled to Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Liverpool and Glasgow to see what was going on in those places. A key principle, which I think the Government have now generally adopted—although there are some faults in the arrangement—is that the provision is required for the simple reason that we are trying to get ahead of the problem. We need to identify people who may be at risk of violence, and who may end up being in street gangs. Where this has been applied, it has worked: it has worked in Boston and Los Angeles, for instance.