Lily Allen Discusses Knife Crime With London Mayor Boris Johnson

British pop star Lily Allen met with London Mayor Boris Johnson earlier this week to give her views on the current -- and devastating -- knife crime situation.

The 'LDN' hitmaker, 23, spent 45 minutes canvassing the Mayor at City Hall after posting a direct appeal to the capital's Tory chief on her Myspace blog.

The pint-sized star outlined several proposals to help challenge the idea that knife crime is cool and to encourage teenagers to be more ambitious about their future.

Johnson -- who recently replaced Ken Livingstone as the city's mayor -- said afterwards, "I welcome any constructive suggestions on combating knife crime and Lily Allen has already proved her commitment to help address this problem.

"I welcome her proposals and am keen to explore further how she can help us address this serious and distressing problem.

"There is nothing romantic or glamorous about knife crime and I'm delighted Lily will be using her considerable profile and fan base to spread that message."

The meeting was sparked by Lily's original post earlier this month on her blog which said, "Please can everyone stop stabbing each other in the UK. It's really sad, my thoughts are with all the families affected by these heinous crimes.

"We need to have a knife amnesty, we should put on a big concert to raise awareness and stop the violence, Boris, if your listening call me man. Speak soon peeps xxx."

Lily also suggested holding an awareness-raising pop concert, but nothing has come of that idea yet.

Meanwhile, another teen was stabbed to death in London yesterday. He was 18. It makes him the 21st teenager to suffer a violent death in London this year.

Roman Catholics will be gathering for an all-day vigil at Westminster Cathedral on Friday where they will pray for an end to knife and gun crime in the city.

Organiser Nick Black told the BBC it was a way of bringing people together.

"There are a lot of people out there like me who don't really know what to do about this and there is a level of fear and intimidation on the streets with people nervous about approaching anybody."

This wave of knife crime is getting out of hand. 21 people have lost their lives and 21 families have lost the person they love -- all because some yob thinks it's clever to carry a knife. It is unacceptable and needs to stop. Please come together to stamp it out.