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Jo Stevens, a member of the British Parliament affiliated with the progressive Labour Party, announced that her government would continue to regulate a trend of rampant knife crime.
Britain has been faced with an elevated level of knife attacks, in large part driven by the Islamic population which has immigrated into the nation in recent years. Stevens therefore revealed that Labour would implement new restrictions like limiting the sale of knives through the internet.
“Too many young lives have been lost to knife crime,” Stevens wrote on Wednesday via social media. “That’s why this Labour government is taking action with the toughest-ever restrictions on online knife sales, closing loopholes and keeping dangerous weapons off our streets.”
The platform for the Labour Party similarly promises to “ban ninja swords” as well as “zombie-style blades and machetes,” while also strengthening “rules to prevent online sales.”
Stevens provoked criticism with her call for knife control from Rupert Lowe, a member of the British Parliament affiliated with the Reform Party, who contended on social media that “kitchen knifes aren’t the problem, it’s the people doing the stabbing that I’m worried about.”
Some skeptics of knife control have likened them to arguments from gun control advocates in the United States, who claim that reducing access to firearms would decrease criminality.
British actor and singer Idris Elba recently faced similar criticism from conservatives after he called for the blunting of kitchen knives and the outright ban of certain bladed weapons in his home country. He is slated to release a documentary about the reality of knife crime which will feature interviews with figures like King Charles III and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
One social media user observed that the country would also have to regulate hammers, bats, heavy rocks, and even pointy knitting needles under the approach supported by Elba.
