From September 24, these lengthy knives with serrated edges and machetes shall be added to a prohibited checklist of harmful gadgets – which additionally contains butterfly knives, samurai swords and push daggers.
The scheme will run for 4 weeks – between August 26 and September 23 – in police stations throughout England and Wales.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson urged the general public to “do the fitting factor”.
Laws was introduced in Labour’s king’s speech, which constructed on the Conservative ban introduced in January.
It’s going to see six-month sentence for possession of a banned weapon will quadruple type six months to 2 years, whereas anybody caught promoting knives to under-18 faces two years imprisonment.
We’re joined by Night Commonplace house affairs editor Martin Bentham, to debate the zombie knife ban and these weapons’ devastating impression on younger Londoners.
Plus, partly two, Staff GB Olympic 800 metres champion Keely Hodgkinson and victorious climber Toby Roberts on their plans after Paris 2024 gold medal success.
Right here’s a totally automated transcript of this episode:
From London, that is The Commonplace podcast, and I am Mark Blunden.
Developing on this episode…
What’s subsequent for Staff GB’s new golden technology?
However first, zombie knives and machetes will lastly be banned from subsequent month amid horrific assaults on London’s streets.
Forward of the ban, these in possession of those grotesque wanting weapons are being urged at hand them in at particular bins on the capital’s police stations as a part of a blades amnesty.
Then from the twenty fourth of September, zombie knives with these horrific wanting serrated edges and machetes shall be added to the prohibited checklist of harmful gadgets which additionally contains butterfly knives, samurai swords and push daggers.
Now in the interim, the federal government says there won’t be any repercussions for these surrendering the possibly harmful knives safely whereas Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson urged the general public to do the fitting factor.
The scheme will run for 4 weeks from the twenty sixth of August till the twenty third of September at police stations throughout England and Wales.
Laws was introduced in Labour’s King’s Speech, which constructed on the conservative ban introduced in January.
It’s going to now see the sentence for possession of a banned weapon quadrupling from six months to 2 years.
Whereas anybody caught promoting knives to under-18s faces two years’ imprisonment.
To find extra, we’re joined by Night Commonplace House Affairs editor Martin Bentham, who explains what zombie knives appear to be and their impression on London road crime.
Mainly, they’re very large knives with serrated edges. Typically, effectively, they was with descriptions on them and so forth and logos and issues like that to make them look hideously harmful.
However the impression of all these knives, these kind of standing knives because the police refers them, has been damaging as a result of, after all, one argument with knife crimes has all the time been that knives are round, each home kitchen knives and so forth.
However the police will inform you, the truth is, Commander Stephen Clayman, who’s the Nationwide Police Chiefs’ Council, lead on knife crime, Metropolitan Police Officer, mentioned to me just lately for The Night Commonplace that a whole lot of offenders had been going out carrying these standing weapons.
They prefer to intimidate different individuals.
And also you usually see it while you see images of weapons which have been taken from individuals.
It is not the typical kitchen knife. It’s the large, hideous wanting knife that most individuals would by no means take into account possessing, however have been acquired by individuals out on the streets committing knife crime and attempting to intimidate working medication or no matter else it may be, or simply as basic gang members attempting to intimidate their rivals, their opponents and different individuals.
And so the impression has been very damaging.
And naturally, the fact is that though once more, a kitchen knife can kill and might do critical injury, clearly the larger the knife that is been used, the extra probably it’s to inflict very, very critical hurt on individuals.
And that is what we have seen over time in London and to an extent elsewhere within the nation.
How come this blanket ban has taken so lengthy to get onto the statute books?
It has been a criticism of the brand new authorities.
So the federal government, the earlier authorities had legislated and the brand new authorities, as Labour beforehand accused the Conservative authorities, as was, of failing to take motion as a result of there had been repeated guarantees of zombie knives being outlawed.
And naturally, as you usually discover, and completely different measures handed, and there was a measure handed a number of years in the past, however after all, it then turns on the market was a loophole that meant that zombie knives may very well be stored, so long as they did not have photos depicting violence on their handles, they usually may very well be stored and bought.
So though they had been authorized to have on the streets, as any knife mainly is, until you have bought an affordable excuse for having it, which clearly you do not with these varieties of weapons, there is a loophole that individuals might have them.
And due to this fact, clearly, in the event you’ve bought the flexibility to have them and the police cannot seize them, in the event that they go and raid any person’s house or no matter, they usually know the individuals, they usually know that individuals have been shopping for these weapons on-line.
Some individuals have been shopping for them in bulk to promote on to different individuals, to different offenders.
And in order that created a loophole that allowed, within the case of zombie knives, them to be nonetheless in circulation and nonetheless accessible to individuals.
So that is what the present laws, which right now we have got this give up scheme amnesty coming into impact till the precise laws comes into impact, banning zombie knives altogether.
Might you give us an summary of London’s knife crime charges?
The most recent figures from the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics present a 16% enhance 12 months to the top of March this 12 months.
The 12 months on the finish of March, that is barely down with 20% enhance over the 2023 12 months, calendar 12 months.
However clearly, it is nonetheless a really excessive fee of enhance.
In reality, the general whole of simply over 15,000 offenses was one of many very highest totals which have been recorded.
In reality, the very best whole for the equal interval recorded over the previous decade or so.
And so, it is an issue that is definitely not disappearing.
And actually, if something has bought worse once more within the final two or three years, and we have had some very excessive numbers of teenage fatalities, this 12 months thus far, it is truly comparatively, comparatively decrease.
However once more, one or two incidents, that may all change in a short time.
And positively, we have been having, I feel, 21 final 12 months, not simply knife crime, however teenage homicides involving a knife or different weapons, generally a gun, however most of them are knives.
And we have seen, clearly, an terrible lot of homicides, however underlying that, there’s been a considerable amount of knife crime.
The mayor has pointed to the truth that there was a decline in underneath 25s being injured with a knife over his time as a mayor.
And so there was a bit little bit of progress, a bit little bit of progress in that respect, that the numbers receiving critical accidents and so forth, a bit with a knife, younger individuals has fallen, a bit bit, however total knife crime is excessive and continues to be excessive, continues to be a significant drawback.
And we do clearly nonetheless see, sadly, some completely horrible tragic incidents with younger individuals, kids dying because of, truly, wanton violence will not be often simply one thing informal, it is very often one thing very intentionally inflicted on them.
When you learn among the accounts of the courtroom circumstances, it is actually fairly disturbing how violent a few of these killings have been, and the way intentionally individuals have been focused, chased down, stabbed repeatedly.
There is a group of individuals, troubled younger individuals, who’re concerned in one of these offending and utilizing the kind of weapons we’re speaking about right here overwhelmingly, and really troublesome drawback to unravel in the long run.
After all, the difficulty is, sure, you may sure the weapons, that can definitely assist and attempt to take a few of these weapons off the streets, as a result of that is what they’re utilizing.
Clearly, past that, there is a a lot higher must deal with among the underlying causes which might be driving a few of these younger individuals behaving this manner, as a result of clearly, the typical younger particular person, younger man, it is often younger males, doesn’t go round carrying a knife.
So, there is a sure group of people who find themselves doing it, and it is what’s motivating them to do this, and the entire kind of cultural violence that is related to it.
Developing: Staff GB Olympic champions, Keely Hodgkinson and Toby Clark on their post-Paris plans.
Why not hit comply with within the meantime and provides us a ranking.
Now Nice Britain’s Olympic Athletes got here house from Paris 2024 with 14 gold medals, 22 silvers and 29 bronzes.
Whereas this 12 months was our lowest gold medal tally since Athens 2004, throughout the rostrum finishes, Staff GB matched their London 2012 efficiency.
Now a few stars from this summer time of sport shared their hopes for the long run on the Nationwide Lottery’s Staff GB homecoming occasions at Manchester Area.
I’ve truly nonetheless bought some extra races to do.
Within the monitor and area, our season hasn’t completed but, so I am going to have the Diamond League closing in just a few weeks, and two different races as effectively. So, I am going to stay up for doing that.
Hopefully deliver house what shall be my third Diamond League title, which is all the time actually enjoyable.
So, I hope to do this after which I am going to have some downtime.
That is Hodgkinson chatting with the Press Affiliation, and he or she discusses her hopes for smashing the world file.
The world’s subsequent 12 months, late September in Tokyo, that is the medal I haven’t got.
I’ve European purpose, I’ve bought Olympic purpose, however I haven’t got a world purpose.
So, it was actually nice to try to try this once more subsequent 12 months.
It is positively one thing I’ve thought of most likely since I raced in London.
I feel that file has stood for thus lengthy, and it has been a very long time earlier than anybody’s even hit the 53 seconds.
I feel I can, I now consider I can try this.
And I feel now with the science that we’ve got within the sport and the know-how that we’ve got that is up and coming, I feel we should always welcome it.
That is what’s serving to us get close to to those data.
And yeah, I am all for it.
After all I can get to it.
And on to the climbing wall the place Surrey’s Toby Roberts was victorious within the males’s mixed sports activities climbing occasion.
It feels completely unbelievable.
It has been only a week for the reason that video games and I am nonetheless completely buzzing.
It simply really feels surreal to have this like medal round my neck proper now.
Simply making the Olympics is simply an achievement in itself.
After which I am going into the competitors, I attempt to eliminate all of my expectations, despite the fact that I knew if I had an excellent efficiency, so I might have an opportunity at a podium.
You by no means anticipate to win a gold medal and there isn’t any proper to go in there and take it.
So, to be sat right here with it now simply feels really surreal.
Once I began climbing, it was comparatively small nonetheless.
So, to see it’s included in Tokyo after which now in Paris and to see the huge quantities of development and the quantity of people who find themselves entering into it, it is simply so good to see.
Climbing, I feel it actually deserves the massive stage and to see so many individuals having fun with watching it, it is simply very nice to see, and everybody ought to get into it as a result of it is a actually cool sport.
There’s rather more information and options at customary.co.uk.
The Commonplace podcast is again tomorrow, Tuesday at 4pm.
