London mayor urges action on stricter zombie knife ban

The mayor says it is "unacceptable" the knives are still on sale eight years after a ban was first proposed

London's mayor has urged the government to press ahead with a stricter ban on zombie knives and machetes.

Last week, Sadiq Khan criticised ministers for "unacceptable delays" over planned changes to the law.

It comes weeks after actor Idris Elba accused politicians of not giving the issue "the focus it deserves".

The Home Office has previously said it is "already an offence to carry a bladed item over three inches in public without good reason".

The government defines a zombie knife as having "a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting it is used for violence".

It has been asked to comment on Mr Khan's latest call to press ahead with a stricter ban.

In August 2023, the Home Office announced plans to create a stronger definition for the weapons and to give police extra powers to seize them, but it is unclear when the new law will come in.

The knives were first added to the government's list of prohibited offensive weapons in 2016, but campaigners argue a "legal loophole" still needs to be closed before the knives can effectively be considered banned.

'Harder to buy lottery ticket'

Police have been particularly unable to deal with zombie knives designed to get around the 2016 definition by not having intimidating images or words on them.

Mr Khan said: "We've repeatedly been promised action, but instead it's harder for a teenager to buy a lottery ticket than a zombie knife, while we've seen a merry-go-round of home secretaries failing to deliver.

"These unacceptable delays must end and I urge the home secretary to urgently bring forward and toughen up this legislation to finally end the scourge of these weapons on our streets."

The mayor is expected to raise the issue of remaining loopholes in a meeting with Home Secretary James Cleverly later this week.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon said: "The powers over the regulation of zombie knives clearly lie with Westminster, and the UK Government needs to stop dragging its feet and introduce the ban on their sale.

"Every single day the Conservatives delay this legislation is another day people in our streets are less safe as a result."

Leader of London Assembly Greens Caroline Russell said: "Of course I'm glad to see the mayor raising the urgency of banning zombie knives, and we really need to stop every kind of knife violence in London.

"If the mayor is serious about preventing knife violence, then he should be equally concerned over the Met's continued sharing of knife images across social media, despite the evidence showing how harmful that is for young people."

Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall has been contacted for a response.

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