Sajid Javid makes a brilliant start in tackling the war on knives

SAJID Javid has made an impressive start at the Home Office.

And in acting on some of the demands of our Beat the Blades campaign, he has shown that he is serious about tackling violent crime.

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Steps to make it harder to buy and own dangerous knives are desperately needed, with dozens of young lives lost on our streets already this year.

There is no excuse under the sun that could ever explain why somebody would march around with a zombie knife tucked into their jeans.

Similarly the Home Secretary should get on with changing the rules to let cops pursue moped thieves — and bang them up behind bars where they belong.

But we must also get to vulnerable kids before they fall under the spell of local gangsters, and tackle the root causes of violence.

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That’s why we’re particularly thrilled to see money going into community groups and sports clubs in the bits of the country that need it most.

Giving the next generation real opportunities will help keep the public safe.

And that is the Government’s most important job.

New tax bad for health

THERESA May should think very carefully about hiking taxes to pay for the NHS.

Voters opted to send the “Brexit dividend” to the Health Service in the referendum and the Government is right to deliver on that promise. It was on the side of the famous red bus, after all.

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But tax increases have never been on the agenda. Hard-working Brits are already seeing wage growth barely nudge ahead of inflation.

They are pounded by the Treasury at the fuel pump, in their pay packet and now even when they dare to buy a can of Coke. Higher taxes hurt.

The NHS needs fundamental reform to make it far, far more efficient.

The country needs a Government that’s brave enough to get on with doing it.

We won’t hold our breath — but apparently we’ll all need to tighten our belts.

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There's just no magic

LABOUR put the Magic Numbers on stage yesterday, which makes a change from sticking them in their manifesto.

The party’s “Labour Live” extravaganza was a farce.

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It was lacklustre, the food queues were Venezuelan and it is expected to lose the party thousands of pounds.

If that’s one afternoon of Corbynomics, God help us if we ever get five years of it.