The government has no excuse: it must act now to end knife crime

Editorial: It has taken the intervention of an A-list celebrity for our B-list politicians to get on with eradicating Britain’s frightening knife-carrying culture. The time for the Home Office to act is now

British actor Idris Elba launches a new campaign against knife crime (AFP via Getty)

Given the number of painful human tragedies that result from knife crime, not to mention the level of real public concern, it is somewhat surprising, to say the least, that the government has yet to tighten up the law on the sale of machetes and so-called zombie knives. These measures were first announced by Suella Braverman approaching a year ago – and then effectively reannounced, as was the former home secretary’s way, at the Conservative Party conference in October.

Given, also, that new regulations to make it more difficult to purchase such knives online – a loophole left open for too long – could be passed in the space of a day, with guaranteed opposition support, there seems no good reason why ministers should not somehow extract this aspect of the current and contentious Criminal Justice Bill and transpose it into some more streamlined parliamentary process, whereby it could be introduced into law with cross-party backing.

With each week that passes, young people in particular are being maimed, mutilated and murdered – an intolerable state of affairs that demands instant action. Such intimidating and lethal weapons have no place in the hands of anyone on the streets, let alone children in parks and playgrounds.