Britain is a rich country, but a sizable minority of its children live in squalor, their prospects occluded by their bad start in life. Social mobility is low compared to other advanced nations — 31% of children in inner London and 22% nationally are growing up in poverty, which will be deepened by spiraling fuel and food costs and a stuttering job market. More than 9% of 16- to 18-year-olds are not currently in any form of education, employment or job training.
It should come as no surprise, then, that youth policy dominates Britain's political agenda as never before. But what's really grabbed the attention of well-heeled parliamentarians is a spate of unrelated murders. What links the crimes is the use of a weapon — usually a knife, sometimes a gun — casually wielded because the victim had looked askance at his killer (most victims are boys) or offered some other insignificant provocation. Last...