Q. Why do people carry knives?

A. Some, I think because it makes them feel big or important. Which is very stupid, isn’t it! Having the ability to hurt or kill another person does not make anyone big or important - it just makes them dangerous. Some people carry knives because they think they need to protect themselves from the dangerous ones. My feeling is, though, that this argument does not work - carrying a knife does not offer much real protection and increases the chance of being caught up in a dangerous situation that can get entirely out of hand.

Reverend Alan Green,
Area Dean of Tower Hamlets Deanery and
Rector of St John on Bethnal Green