Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to tackle the availability of knives online at a knife crime summit - a move North East campaigners have hailed as a “positive step”.
The Prime Minister said “far too many knives are too easily available” when he spoke in Downing Street today (September 9), joined by campaigners and victims' families.
Sir Keir suggested ministers will look at the punishments for those caught with the weapons after concerns were raised over knives being “as easy as picking up a loaf of bread from a supermarket”.
He said: “Far too many knives are too easily available, whether that’s online, whether that’s through the post.
“There are examples of knives “bought online being posted through without any markings, and then people picking them up without any identification, and then those knives being used”.
It is “just too shocking – that needs to be dealt with”, he said.
This comes amid a month-long Government zombie knife surrender scheme, which will culminate in the banning of zombie-style knives from September 24.
This will make owning zombie-style knives and machetes illegal, with those caught owning these knives after the date facing time behind bars.
'Put these words into action'
Tanya Brown - whose son Connor Brown was tragically stabbed to death in Sunderland in 2019 - has praised today’s summit as a “positive step”.
She told The Northern Echo: “This is proving that they are doing what they said in their manifesto. They can’t do everything at once - but it just shows they are taking things seriously.
“In my own meeting with Keir, he promised that he would do something - and at this moment in time, he is.
“I have only been campaigning for three years and it felt like we were going round and round. Now, all of a sudden, we are moving forward.
“I want the Government to continue on this positive streak they are on.”
Zoe McGill - whose son Jack Woodley, 18, died in 2021 when he was fatally wounded with a knife during a gang attack - said it’s time to act and “put these words into action”.
She told The Northern Echo: “The main thing we need to do is tackle what is going on on the streets with knife crime, and how many youngsters are dying.
“The summit is good. But it is all good saying it - we need to act and put these words into action. I just don’t think they understand the devastation families have to go through for their life.
“Young people are putting a knife into their pocket like they put their phone in their pocket. It’s keys, phone, and knife. It’s scary.
“I’ve stopped watching the news because it hurts. I worry every day about my two young boys. This is happening more than it ever has before.”
The Prime Minister told the summit today that the Government needs to “deal with the sanctions for those that are found with knives” - which also try to “reach into the lives of young people who may be going off the tracks and trying to bring them back before they do so”.
Along with the families of victims, Sir Keir was joined at the summit by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, and Luther star Idris Elba.
‘One incident is one too many’
Durham PCC Joy Allen said that, while Durham Constabulary has one of the lowest uses of knives in crime in the North-East, “one incident is one too many and one injury is one too many”.
She said: “We all know that in the wrong hands knives and other bladed instruments are lethal weapons and I welcome each and every move to reduce the number on our streets.
“But I think we have to tackle the problem from every angle. We need really tough consequences for those using or in possession of knife, we need early intervention to deter young people from wanting to carry a knife and we must make it as difficult as we possibly can for people to obtain one.
“I will be interested to see the detail of these plans, because I do think it will be difficult to stop online sales of all knives, given that many of the ones sold are household items.
“I want to see an attitudinal change, which I know won’t happen overnight, so that people do not want to carry a knife - thus removing the temptation to use it.”
Meanwhile, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland, Matt Storey said the force area was seeing “some positive indications from the latest statistics that violent crime overall – including knife crime – is reducing”.
That said, he added, there is “always more to be done”.
"Our Violent Reduction Partnership CURV has already funded a range of interventions to help reduce the numbers of those who choose to carry a knife, as well as those who have been caught up in knife crime," he said.
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“From September, CURV is funding an additional four anti-knife crime education interventions for young people in a bid to prevent them being drawn into violence.
"I believe the key to reducing knife crime is educating young people about the dangers, consequences and impact of carrying a weapon.
"For every person we dissuade from carrying a knife could be potentially life-saving - so identifying the root causes of violence and bringing agencies together in partnerships is incredibly important.”
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