THE EVIDENCE that violence on television encourages violence in real life may be largely anecdotal.

But it is strong enough to warrant National Heritage Secretary Virginia Bottomley's new drive against it.

For the fact that ours is a more violent society than in decades past suggests that the increasing exposure of viewers to violence on the screen - especially the more easily influenced younger ones - must be responsible for its increase in society.

And Mrs Bottomley is right to ask broadcasting chiefs whether the controls on them are strict enough, to seek to crack down firmly on them when standards are broken and to look for ways of helping parents monitor their children's viewing.

It may be that a free society looks warily at measures that will increase censorship.

But when society is beset by violence, common sense - and, we are sure, majority opinion - says that it is mad for it to be encouraged by the gratuitous over-employment of it on the box.

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