Holiday times are approaching and I know that many people will be looking forward to a rest from the hurly-burly of their normal lives and I certainly wish everyone well in whatever form their holidays take, but we should all be aware of those for whom the summer means business as usual. Out of a sense of duty and public service, many people will simply carry on working to protect us and to carry out their usual duties.

The police, fire and ambulance service will continue to provide cover for us throughout the summer - as will many council employees involved in arduous tasks to make sure we can enjoy the summer - from refuse collection, to park supervision, to home help, to social care assistants - and a range of other activities that we are all very pleased are being diligently carried out, but often forget about. Our NHS will continue to be fully staffed throughout the summer by workers anxious to help and save lives.

There has been much discussion over recent weeks about our young people - especially in the context of violent crime and knives. Let us be clear - the overwhelming majority of young people are good, solid conscientious citizens anxious to start to make a positive contribution to society. As they struggle with exams, balance their future choices and their ambitions and face the challenge of growing up - let us not condemn them all as knife-wielding thugs because this is not true. I have met thousands of young people in Harrow and remain inspired by them. Yes we have a problem with a core of young people who have lost their way - some on a violent path that includes knives and violent crime - and, yes, we should deal with them strongly and effectively - but not at the expense of condemning an entire generation.

We need to work with them, to intervene with support at the earliest opportunity to keep them away from violence, knives and a general disrespect for other people. We need to understand their dreams and ambitions and do all that we can to help them achieve them. Some talk dismissively of our society as a "Broken Society" - I think that this is the politics of despair - and this is a slap in the face for every community group, youth group, faith group and voluntary group that is working seven days a week, every week to ensure that we have the society that we all want. In Harrow I am constantly impressed by the work that all of these groups do to improve our community and they should be thanked for it by every one of us, not dismissed by glib politicians as failures who somehow contribute to a broken society.

Do we have problems? Yes, of course we do. Can we all do better? Yes, of course we can. Are there issues around knives in Harrow? Yes, there are - but not to the hysterical extent that some would have it. We need to work with our police to ensure that the toughest message gets through to our young people - don't carry a knife, it is not cool or glamorous - and, likely as not, you will end up with the knife being used against you, you using the knife on someone else, or in prison , or, even worse, dead or injured. We have had enough tragedies, enough young lives wrecked through knives and violence. Let's all work together to prove that glib sound bites like "broken society" might work with the focus groups, but we all think that Harrow and other communities are too important to be so glibly dismissed.