Boris Johnson’s Big Idea on Knife Crime: Teach Ancient Greek and Latin

BORIS JOHNSON believes teaching London’s kids dead languages can stop them knifing each other.

“I think there’s a huge amount we can do in London by promoting the learning of languages including Latin,” said the new London mayor. “I would like to see not only that but I would like to see ancient Greek.”

Johnson’s idea is that teaching the languages of the ancients can help give children an alternative outlook on life and steer them away from gang culture and knives.

“Education is one issue to do with all the social problems,” he explained yesterday. “Me and my team are determined to get knives off the streets, but also to change the culture and to pull people away from the terrible culture of aggression and revenge.”

One snag with his plan is that ancient Greece and Rome are not great examples of social harmony. Both featured near constant war, slavery and plenty of casual street violence. It’s true the Mayor studied classics at university, but maybe he never caught Gladiator or Alexander the Great when they were on at the cinema.