Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of decriminalising the possession of (a) pepper spray and (b) non-lethal self-defence weapons on safety for women.

Pepper sprays are currently prohibited by law and we have no plans to change this. It has been the view of successive governments that the possession of items such as pepper sprays for personal protection is likely to lead to an increase in levels of violence as they could be used against the owners to incapacitate them, with serious consequences.