Leeds MP concerned new machete laws still won't go far enough
Labour's Hilary Benn has been calling for the sale of the weapons to be banned
A Leeds MP says new plans to crack down on machetes and ‘zombie knives’ have taken too long to announce and may not go far enough.
It follows our investigation into the use of machetes on the streets of West Yorkshire, which found police were dealing with the equivalent of three incidents a day involving them.
Yesterday the Home Office revealed new measures to ban more of the weapons and give police extra powers to seize them.
It's something Labour's Hilary Benn has been calling for following a string of machete attacks in Leeds.
Reacting to the announcement, he told us he is welcoming the plan – but raised concerns about the specifications the weapons will have to meet.
Currently the law bans the possession of so-called ‘zombie’ knives, which are defined as a blade with ‘a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting it is used for violence’.
Under the new measures, the Home Office said the definition will include any bladed weapon more than eight inches long with a plain-cutting edge and sharp pointed end that also has either a serrated cutting edge, more than one hole in the blade or multiple sharp points like spikes.
'A big loophole'
The Leeds Central MP is concerned that still doesn’t go far enough and says he will seek clarification from ministers:
“It’s not clear to me that it would cover, for example, a 20-inch machete with a blade down one side. In other words, a long knife with a handle. Because a plain machete doesn’t have a serrated cutting edge, more than one hole in the blade or multiple sharp points like spikes.
“And if that’s the case then it strikes me that this is a big loophole in what the government has announced.
“Because what is the justification for being able to buy, allowing someone to sell or allowing people to possess knives of that sort when we know they are being used to intimidate, to maim and to kill?
“It’s a further step in the right direction, but I’m not sure it’s the complete ban I’ve been looking for.”
The proposals will see a maximum sentence of two years for the importation, manufacturing, possession and sale of these weapons.
A new offence will also be introduced for possessing bladed articles "with the intention to endanger life or cause fear of violence".
The Government said the measures, which were first proposed in April, will be legislated "when Parliament allows" following a public consultation.
Hilary Benn says it has taken too long to get to this point:
“This is I think the 6th or 7th time that they’ve announced action on what they call zombie knives and quite why it has all taken so long to get to this point I really don’t understand.
“Of course there will now have to be a public consultation and it depends on finding legislative time in Parliament to implement the ban.
“It’s taken a long time even since I first raised it and other people had been campaigning on this previously.
“The government should get on with it and make sure the ban is complete, and that’s what I will be pressing for.”
Speaking yesterday, policing minister Chris Philp said: “communities can be reassured that this violent criminality will face the punishments they deserve, and lives will be saved.”