Sir Alan makes 'yob culture' plea

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Millionaire businessman and Apprentice star Sir Alan Sugar has called for billions of pounds to be spent on helping police clean up "yob culture".

He told BBC News he was "absolutely gob smacked" each time he turned on the TV to see "another report of a yet another stabbing of a young person".

Youngsters should use their skills to get off the "dole" and achieve business or sporting success, he told BBC News.

Sir Alan also criticised human rights laws for "tying the hands" of police.

Billions of pounds

In an interview with the BBC News Channel, he said he would like to see more government money spent on helping police do "an even better job than they are at the moment".

While admitting he lacked political experience, he said: "I wonder whether the millions, millions and billions which have been spent on things like Iraq, if they were deployed to try and sort this thing out. Let's have some more police."

The entrepreneur added: "If you look at the way the police, their hands are tied really. The manner in which they can go about investigating these things, this is all due to human rights rules which have been imposed on them - mainly coming from Europe and places like that."

Sir Alan said he had played on the streets of Hackney, east London, as a young lad but such freedom was no longer possible for children. He said: "I don't think you can do that any more.

"I know there have been politicians going round there, parading themselves at night to try and prove that everything is wonderful.

"What you didn't see in the camera shot was the 20 policemen and 40 security guards standing around," he added.