Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning the sale of pointed knives as a means of reducing knife crime.
The Government recognises the devastating impact that knife crime has on victims, their families and the communities in which they live. We know that knife crime is committed by criminals carrying a wide range of different knives. This is why the law does not generally differentiate between knives, for example in relation to age controls or possession offences.
The Government needs to strike the right balance between allowing access to knives, for instance as tools, with the need to protect the public from dangerous weapons. It is unclear whether knives with rounded tips would necessarily cause less harm if used as weapons. We believe the controls we have in place, which will be strengthened by the Offensive Weapons Bill, support this.