We need further legislation that better regulates the sale of knives
4 min read
Concerned about the rise of knife crime in the UK, Lord Naseby asked the Home Office Minister what action is being taken to ensure that retailers selling kitchen knives adhere to regulations.
During the summer recess I often pop into my daughters shop to see what is happening in the retail market. I asked about the sale of Kitchen knives in the light of the horrific numbers of murders in London & elsewhere.
I was surprised that she was able to give me an immediate comprehensive briefing of the code of practice used by all responsible retailers selling kitchen knives.
Basically, all retailers apply their policies for age restricted sales such as ‘Think21’ or ‘Challenge 25’ to ensure age verification checks take place and knives will only be sold (or supplied) once they are satisfied the customer is 18 or over.
This includes proof of age checks for in-store sales, collection, or point of delivery situations. The code also covers ‘display’ to prevent theft, restrict any immediate use, security of packaging and training for staff. In fact, everything possible to stop sales to those who might use their knife to harm others.
I looked at the list of participants. It seemed to cover all the supermarkets and specialist cook shops.
Poundland themselves have gone even further to stop selling any knives; understandable as their knives were inexpensive. In addition, both eBay & Amazon are co-operating, though it seems to me this remains a bit of a loophole.
Armed with the brief, I decided to ask a generic question namely, ‘To ask HMG what action they are taking to ensure that retailers selling kitchen knives adhere to regulations on the sale of knives’.
The Home Office Minister’s answer covered three aspects. A reminder that knives cannot be sold to those under 18. The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 will further strengthen the law for on line sales & delivery of knives. She finished that HMG will continue to work with retailers to have effective measures in place.
Of course, I did not know what the response would be but on balance it seemed positive.
My supplementary was, ‘Does my noble friend agree that we should pay tribute to the supermarkets and others which have carried out age challenges? Are there not two other areas we should seriously consider concerning the awful challenge we face?
First, could trading standards not do a thorough check throughout the retail trade and with online trade in some way to ensure that everybody is complying with the age challenge? Secondly, could HMG not consider introducing legislation to extend the Primary Authority scheme to knives as soon as possible, ideally include it in the Queen’s Speech.
The Ministers answer was positive in general. In particular, she highlighted the £500,000 prosecution fund to help trading standards prosecute. However, no mention of Legislation.
Normally an oral question in the Lords lasts 6/7 minutes, but the interest generated took us to 8 minutes when the Lord speaker cut us off & went to next question.
The other contributions were supportive though several people raised the question about the ‘No points’ campaign because no points knives had significantly less penetration & are therefore less likely to be life threatening.
The Minister was less convinced pointing out that machetes did not have points.
I actually have a machete in my study from a visit to Dharan, the Gurkha HQ in Nepal. I might further add that I do all the carving at home and the rounded knife is fine for gammon & straight forward carving but useless for carving Game.
What happens now?
Well I for one with the help of the wonderful House of Lords Library will monitor progress & return to the topic if matters do not improve.
Lord Naseby is a Conservative Member of the House of Lords.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.
