I've always found Camila Batmanghelidjh to be a rather preposterous figure. Yes, I accept that she does some good works. But whenever I've heard her speak she has come out with the most stupid 'it's not their fault' excuses for thugs. I remember a Question Time edition when I first came across her; I thought she was some kind of comedy act, a la Borat or Lily Savage, only this time satirising the 'they just need a big hug' types.

It is par for the course that she has been embraced by David Cameron. (Every time Mr C opens his mouth and comes out with another piece of tree-hugging the chance of my voting Conservative gets smaller, but that's another story.) This quote from Miss Batmanghelidjh which Peter Hitchens has unearthed, however, takes the biscuit for la-la land nonsense:

There are very exciting studies emerging that may really help our thinking. A lot of these types of very violent young people are thermostatically impaired. The reason they're thermostatically impaired is that they've been exposed to so much violence and trauma that they almost get addicted to operating through adrenaline.

'This adrenaline recharges their system into a violent state of being. In addition they have got very poor selfsoothing repertoires because they have been deprived of loving care. Loving care and compassion is what gives you your repertoire for empathy.

'On the one hand they are maternally and carewise very depressed so that the control areas of the brain don't develop, and on the other hand they are supercharged with traumatic memories which disregulate their management of energy. And I think we need to be looking at the problem at these levels. Cultural factors only give you the weapons, they don't give you the feeling to kill.

I'm lost for words. Really.