to think wtf? lilly allen meets boris johnson to discuss knife crime.

[HermanMunster]

i mean seriously, whatever about using celebrities in advertisments or awareness campaigns, to act as though they are actively involved in the political process is just ridiculous.
what the hell is a privately educated, celebrities daughter who sings going to know about "solving" knife crime.
do the government assume that because she is part of the current "mockney" cool movement, she obviously knows all about crime and disenfranchised youth.

i mean fair enough, i understand wanting to use your celebrity to do some good, but why is she being given an audience with the lord mayor when she has absolutely no expertise on the subject?she's a singer. i would have thought the people to discuss possible solutions to the problem would be the qualified experts on the subject.although i may be wrong as her solution does seem pretty solid. "She had written a blog urging UK citizens to stop "stabbing each other in the UK"."
problem solved.

www.nme.com/news/lily-allen/38248

www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/latest/2008/07/17/lily-allen-meets-mayor-boris-johnson-to-talk-knife-crime- 89520-20652413/

sorry rant over.

[VictorianSqualor]

Maybe it has nothing to do with where she has been bought up but rather the audience she can gather?

[Katisha]

But I do dislike this reliance on finding a sleb to endorse/establish policy...

[beansprout]

That's fine VS but in that case she should be used to promote something or talk about something, not to meet with Boris.

[ScottishMummy]

well given she is in the target age group, lives in london, shows an interest in stopping/reducing knife crime.why not contribute.

i imagine Boris will gather opinion from
young people
eg Lily
Clinicians/A&E who deal with these injuries
police
affected individuals
community representatives
Local Authorities
Community Workers/SW's

this will be a liaison between MDT agencies and interested parties so no it will not just be Lily sole contribution.

i think it is appropriate

[jette]

What on EARTH would Lily Allen know about knife crime?! He might as well be meeting with me.
She's not of the age group that we're most concerned with, she's not from the background that seems to be most involved, musically she has about as much relevance to young alienated Londoners as Girls Aloud..

[LazyLinePainterJane]

Maybe Boris chose her as she's thew only young person he knows who won't stab him?

[Heifer]

jette - is she not down with the kidz then?

[HermanMunster]

and vs, ias i said earleir, if she wants to use her celebrity to help then fine. an awarness/advertising campaign would be a great idea. but in all honesty wtf would she know about knife crime or how to solve it anymore than any other person in the country?

and while i accept that the policy makers should be meeting with young people to help solve the problem, surely they should be meeting with young people who are from areas affected by knife crime or have experience of such incidents.
to me it just seems like either a) someone thought it was good publicity for both of them. boris= young and hip, lilly= politically aware

or b) boris isn't that hip and thought "lilly allen is young and a bit mouthy.she's obviously quite urban and street, i bet she knows how to stop this knife crime business"

either way i find it ridiculous that they are playing this charade of her being an informed problem solver. and in reality her music isn't even that popular with the target audience to reduce knife crime, rather it's popular with students who like to act a bit street but are really very far removed from it.

[mrsruffallo]

Agree Jette

[ScottishMummy]

What you can't talk about knife crime if you have not personally experienced it?That logic would exlclude most of the country.

do you need to be down with the kids to discuss knife issues?

You dont need to experience Knife crime to feel its impact (eg heightend sense of fear)or wish to contribute

Hmm so is it best not ask the youth what they think about continued military engagement in Iraq (since the majority of them have no experiential knowledge)

[mrsruffallo]

Well, if it's not because she is down with the youth or because of her street image(and image is all it is) then why her?
There are many more young people who could have been asked.Why Lilly Allen?

[mrsruffallo]

There are thosands of families that have experienced the impact of it.
Surely better to talk to people who are living with the reality of it than some pretend pop star?

[ScottishMummy]

Yes i agree there are numerous people who could have been asked eg dizee rascal?actually i dont think such celeb endorsements alter/change opinion

i dont believe you necesarily need to be down wiv da kids to contribute

anyway as i said i imagine this is a taskforce of various people so not just lily

[mrsruffallo]

Yes, I would be impressed by Dizee Rascal and Sway going to see him.
Lily Allen just shows how out of touch politicians are

[mrsruffallo]

And I agree you don't have to be down with the kids to contribute, but it is always better to have authentic ground level voices added to this type of discussion.

[VictorianSqualor]

Well, I haven't directly been involved in knife crime, though I know plenty who have been, doesn't mean I wouldn't have an idea on how to do something about it.

For all we know Lily Allen may have some really good ideas on how to combat it, plus have the ability to raise awareness.

Just as I'm sure Carl Barat isn't leading authority on racism and was involved in Love Music Hate Racism.

The meeting could have been about what Lily could do to help in a campaign Boris is planning.

Lily Allen may not be the best person to reach out to people already committing the crimes, but she is VERY popular amongst young teens who may possibly go down that route, and IMO, better her than nobody.

[mrsruffallo]

I disagree that she is popular with youth who go down this route. I's all fake and ironic and people know that.
LoveMusic Hate Racism was about music combating racism so only right that a musician should be there.

[jette]

If you haven't been involved in knife crime then you SHOULDN'T be giving any opinions - what would they be based on?! What the media tells you?
Do we really need any more 'awareness raising'? Surely its being rammed down out throats all the time.

[VictorianSqualor]

She is involved in doing a 'knife aid' concert and whilst Boris arranges some of it, she is recruiting people to play at the event.

She wrote about wanting to do something to help in her blog and contacted the daily mail to see if they had any ideas, they put her in contact with Boris Johnson, and this is what is happening.

She isn't rewriting laws ffs.

[VictorianSqualor]

*Daily Star.

[ScottishMummy]

jette seriously have a think about what you said and apply it to its logical conclusion. so Pg and childbirth, dont ask men because they will never experience it? really?

Dont ask non car drivers about road tax and traffic management- they dont have a car

we have a democratically elected parliament which has MP's who will vote on your behalf upon fiscal and legal matters they have no direct experience of

plenty things people have opinions on without direct experience

actually most of us are capeable of forming opinions on many diverse topics without experiential knowledge or necesarily reading tabloids.

[jette]

I'm not talking about never experiencing it - there are obviously experts who have no direct experience.
Would you want someone whose knowledge of childbirth is made up of half remembered facts and Daily Mail scare stories to have a say on maternity provision in your area?

[DoubleBluff]

Whta does a white midle class privately educated, privileged twenty somethin gilr know a bout black teenage, disenfrachised, poorly educated, woking class male youths?
Why not speak to them and find out why they are carrying knives?

[ScottishMummy]

actually NHS public consultations are just that, responses gathered from the public on a particular topic inc pg and childbirth.so actually maybe a DM reader contributed to your local PCT and trust strategy for nhs provision Given the huge circulation, most likely in fact

[VictorianSqualor]

If they were intelligent enough peopel that were to be talking through the issues with other people that did have good information then yes.

Lily isn't being asked how to combat it but involved in doing something within the music community (something she knows better than most as is not just in it now but has grown up in it).