Keir Starmer vows to finally get zombie knives off streets with proper ban
Keir Starmer today pledges to get knives off Britain’s streets, as he accuses the Tories of failing a generation.
The Labour leader says he will finally stop the weapons getting into the hands of criminals.
Five Tory Home Secretaries have promised a ban on zombie knives and machetes, but lethal blades are still available. More than 240 youths have been fatally stabbed since 2016, when the Conservatives first made the pledge. Families of victims have warned that the latest Government proposals are still too weak and exclude key weapons such as swords.
Labour will work with experts to extend the ban so that it includes a wider range of weapons, including changing existing rules on serration and length. They will also launch a clampdown to stop kids getting their hands on knives online.
Mr Starmer pledged to act swiftly and robustly if he becomes PM, saying: “If I announce a ban, you’ll get a ban.”
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He added: “The number of these deadly weapons on Britain’s streets is shocking and unacceptable. “For years, Tory ministers have made grand promises of action while failing to deliver a proper ban on these killer knives and failing to crack down on online sales to kids. The tragic cost of this failure is being felt across our nation. Young people are being killed or maimed. Communities are blighted by fear. Yet these deadly weapons are still readily available.”
Mr Starmer warned that the Tories have “failed a generation of young people”. “While they dither and delay, Labour would act,” he continued. “There will be nothing short of a ban by my Labour government. And we won’t stop there – we’ll crack down on online sales, too. No child should be able to buy a deadly weapon as easily as they can online today.”
His promise comes after Idris Elba made a passionate plea to end the horror of knife crime as he launched the Don’t Stop Your Future campaign in the Mirror earlier this month. The actor stood outside Parliament among 247 piles of folded clothes, representing last year's knife victims in the UK. He is calling for an immediate ban on machetes and zombie knives.
In August last year, the Home Office announced new tougher rules on zombie knives on machetes. But the family of Ronan Kanda accused Tory ministers of going back on a face-to-face promise they made to outlaw the sale of swords.
The 16-year-old was stabbed with a 20 inch-long sword in a case of mistaken identity as he walked home from a friend’s house in Wolverhampton in June 2022. The teenage boys who killed him were able to buy a set of swords and a machete on the internet.
Progress on the Government’s new legislation has been slow and several high-profile incidents have occurred since it was announced including the killing of schoolgirl Elianne Andam. The 15-year-old was stabbed to death on her way to school in Croydon, South London, in September.
London mayor Sadiq Khan last night joined criticism of the Government’s failure to act in knives. He said: "It's more difficult for a teenager to buy a lottery ticket than to buy online a machete or a zombie knife. There can be no reason why anybody would have a machete in this country, we haven't got forests like South America, there's no justification or reason to have a zombie knife."
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