ONE of the enduring messages at our nationwide Save Our Streets roadshows has come from young people asking:

When will someone listen to what WE think?

So we did. And the results from a poll of 16 to 24-year-olds make extraordinary reading.

Seven in ten believe anyone caught with a knife in public should serve a mandatory two-year jail term.

Seventy-five per cent think current punishments are too soft and nine out of ten back police stop and search tactics to catch blade carriers.

And a majority dismiss night-time curfews as a waste of time.

So that’s a pretty clear signal to police, the courts and parliament.

And we hope Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will remember it when she speaks at our Birmingham Roadshow on Tuesday night.

OAPs deserve better

TWO million elderly people in Britain are living below the poverty line.

Yet £20 BILLION of state aid and benefits remains unclaimed — because the forms you have to fill in are too complex.

Six out of every ten poor pensioners are put off seeking benefits they are entitled to because the forms are too complicated.

How ridiculous.

When every household in the country is feeling the pinch, it’s time the government and civil servants got their act together — and changed the system to make life easier for our elderly and most vulnerable.

They seem to be able to do it for everyone else.

Cut-price hit to hell

HOW shocking to discover that lethal drugs are now cheaper than a pint of lager.

Our investigation found that crack cocaine is selling for as little as £2 a hit—while lager costs £2.60.

Is it any wonder that parents are out of their minds with worry about the dangers and temptations that challenge children today?

One more stark reminder that the responsibilities of parenthood are tougher than ever before.

Paint It Grey

AFTER his boozy fling with a sultry Russian, Ronnie Wood is in rehab, where bedtime is 9pm.

Old rocker Ronnie is reported to be “confused”.

Since the Rolling Stone’s day now ends just when it used to begin, we’re hardly surprised.