Edward Adoo

Since the early nineties, mid-morning reality TV has been something of an obsession for many Brits. From Jerry Springer to Vanessa, Trisha to Kilroy, our desire to find out who had cheated on their neighbour – or who has a drug problem – has meant these shows have been a consistent fixture on our screens. Now The Jeremy Kyle Show has been suspended following the death of a guest shortly after he appeared on the programme. ITV has wiped the show from its online back catalogue. And there are calls for the programme to be axed for good. The controversy around Jeremy Kyle is nothing new. The shouting and screaming and fractious arguments on the show, presented for our titillation, have been a concern for some time. There is no doubt the show was entertaining.

We are not even halfway into 2018 and yet 50 people have died on London's streets. For families who have lost loved ones, this is another incident; another number added to the list. The knife and gun crime epidemic has got out of control. Mayor Sadiq Khan needs to take action and ensure Londoners are safe. Knife and gun crime has been a problem in London since the 1960s. My former headmaster Philip Lawrence died after trying to help a pupil outside St George's school in Maida Vale. That happened over twenty years ago. He was a victim of knife crime, stabbed to death by a 16-year-old. Young people have been carrying knives for decades, but what has allowed things to spiral out of control?