This summer violence and disorder exploded onto Britain's streets – triggering an all-out governmental assault on gangs. But analysis commissioned by the government suggests only 13% of those arrested could credibly be linked to gangs.
Hugh Muir examines what effect this zero-tolerance approach will have on young people and explores whether being preoccupied with gangs is missing the point.
Young people from east London tell Hugh how policy-makers are ignorant of what really happens on the street. Philip Leaf from the Centre for the Prevention of Youth Violence in Baltimore explains how his city has successfully reduced youth crime. And Karyn McCluskey talks about her successful violence reduction unit in Glasgow.
To debate the issue further, Hugh is joined by Ian Joseph, a research fellow at University of East London University; Christian Guy, policy director at the Centre for Social Justice thinktank; and Symeon Brown from the Haringey Young People Empowered project in north London.
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