A slew of new laws come into force this morning, with mandatory sentences for knife crime, a "two strikes and you have got life" rule for serious violent and sexual offences, and new laws on dangerous driving and hate crime.

Michael Turner QC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, and Kate Whaley, from the charity Mothers Against Murder and Aggression (MAMAA), discussed whether the new laws will bring crime figures down.

Ms Whaley explained to Today presenter Sarah Montague, "I cant see how this is going to reduce any of the incidents that we are seeing with knives at the moment... we need to find ways to stop young people carrying weapons in the first instance."

Mr Turner said we have seen over the years that "deterrent sentences don't work" and emphasised his view that this new system will not succeed in changing offenders' behaviour.

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