A GP explains why the government fighting knife crime with chicken boxes is a dumb idea

Fried chicken boxes featuring warnings about the dangers of carrying a knife have been sent to takeaways across England and Wales as part of a campaign by the Home Office, however, now a GP has explained why it's never going to work.

More than 321,000 boxes that feature real-life stories about young people who chose positive activities such as music or sports instead of carrying knives will replace standard packaging at fast food outlets such as Chicken Cottage, Morely's and Dixy Chicken, reports the BBC.

However, the initiative has come under intense criticism, with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott calling it 'crude' and 'offensive', and Labour MP David Lammy accusing it of racial stereotyping.

Now, a GP named Adnan R. Siddiqui has taken to Twitter in order to criticise the initiative, explaining how it won't help the problem in a must-read thread.

According to the Home Office, the #KnifeFree initiative aims to change the attitudes and behaviours of young people aged between 10 and 21, reports the BBC.

Similar style chicken boxes were distributed at a branch of Morley's in south London in March, and the company's managing director Shan Selvendran said that they were "proud" to support the campaign, adding:

We want to start conversations amongst all of our customers.

HT BBC

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