Sports funding to cut crime – a drop in the ocean or a step in the right direction?
The government is giving £5m to 200 grassroots sports organisations in an effort to offer young people in deprived areas a constructive way to spend their spare time.
You may be forgiven for assuming this money was part of a Department of Culture, Media and Sport initiative, but it is in fact part of a push from the Ministry of Justice to prevent youth crime.
According to government figures, youth crime costs the UK taxpayer £1.5bn a year, and deputy prime minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab believes it’s schemes like this that can make all the difference to children at risk of one day going down a dark path.
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“For those young people who might be at risk of getting drawn into antisocial behaviour or even worse, things like drugs and gangs, we give them – by supporting sports like boxing and football – a positive outlet”, he said.
However, Labour has consistently criticised the Conservatives for underfunding deprived urban areas – something the prime minister was slammed for last year when he told a crowd of Conservative members in Tunbridge Wells just that.
When I challenged Mr Raab on the cuts to youth centres in places like Tottenham under the Conservative government, he defended the government’s fiscal choices: “We’ve got to cut our coat according to our cloth.
“We’ve gone through this incredible financial challenge that the whole world has seen, but what we are doing and what you can see we’re doing here is protecting and preserving investment in these kinds of schemes.”
Dominic Raab said the scheme will give young people a ‘positive outlet’
When I asked former footballer and ThruLife ambassador Jobi McAnuff whether he believed the government was putting enough funding into areas like his hometown of Tottenham, he replied: “No is the short answer.”
He continued: “This is very much our future and I think we should do as much as we can to put on these projects and facilities for children, and also to bang the drum and make some noise and hopefully the people in power will listen and understand how important the work is that is being done in these areas.”
Co-founder of ThruLife Michael Donaldson told me he didn’t think the money was enough and explained that he wanted politicians to be more hands-on when it comes to helping communities like his.
“I’d love to see them actually spend, rather than five or 10 minutes, come down and be part of a programme, come and do a week with us. I know it’s difficult but I’m yet to see anyone doing it and I don’t understand why,” he said.
Though this cash injection will be a welcome boost to grassroots sports clubs like ThruLife doing everything they can to prevent youth crime, they remain unconvinced that those in the Westminster bubble handing out the dosh understand what children in deprived areas are up against day-to-day.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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