Sir Keir Starmer vows to act to end 'shockingly easy' access to knives online
Employment minister Alison McGovern said new measures are needed to stop the 'absolute devastation' caused by the flow of blades
Online retailers could soon face stringent new measures to curb knife sales to minors, as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned it is "shockingly easy" for young people to purchase blades.
The drive for robust checks comes after the horrific Southport murders where Axel Rudakubana used a knife bought from Amazon to tragically end the lives of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance eventlast July.
The Government is now pledging to introduce legislation that may compel retailers to require two forms of ID from knife purchasers. The BBC has reported that buyers might have to provide an official document, such as a passport or driver's licence, alongside recording a live video to confirm their age.
Employment minister Alison McGovern said new measures to use two-factor identification to prevent under-age people from buying knives are needed to stop the âabsolute devastationâ caused by the flow of blades.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs it is a âa total disgraceâ that Rudakubana, then 17 and with a history of violence, was able to buy a weapon online and promised new measures in the Crime and Policing Bill this spring.
Writing in The Sun, Sir Keir said: âIt remains shockingly easy for our children to get their hands on deadly knives. The lessons of this case could not be clearer.
Axel Rudakubana (Image: PA Media)âTime and again, as a child, the Southport murderer carried knives. Time and again, he showed clear intent to use them.
âAnd yet, tragically, he was still able to order the murder weapon off of the internet without any checks or barriers. A two-click killer. This cannot continue.
"The technology is there to set up age verification checks, even for kitchen knives ordered online.
"We must now use it to protect our children from future attack and I will ensure that this happens."
Minister Ms McGovern was asked how two-factor identification to prevent people who are not old enough to buy knives would work.
âKnife crime is horrendous and we have got to have the new measures that you just mentioned, because we cannot have this flow of knives that can cause such absolute devastation,â she told BBC Breakfast.
"We know that the technology is there to improve verification checks and I think that everyone would want that, every business, every organisation."
She said the Government will work with retailers to stop knives getting into the wrong hands.
But she stressed that âin the end, weâve got to have the right checks in placeâ and said the Government will âlook at every measure that we can bring forward through legislationâ.
The need for action on knife crime has been further illustrated after a 12-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Birmingham on Tuesday.
Commander Stephen Clayman of the National Police Chiefs' Council is spearheading a review on online knife sales, which was initially set to conclude by the end of this month. However, due to recent developments, these plans are expected to be accelerated, as reported by the BBC.
The forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill is also set to introduce new sanctions for senior tech executives whose companies fail to operate within the law on knife sales.
The current law states that retailers must verify the age of the customer before selling a knife and, for those bought online, at the point of collection or delivery.
An Amazon spokesperson addressed the issue with urgency, remarking: "We take our responsibility around the sale of all age-restricted items â including bladed products â extremely seriously and have launched an urgent investigation in relation to this tragic case.
"We use trusted ID verification services to check name, date of birth and address details whenever an order is placed for these bladed items.
"We have an age verification on delivery process that requires drivers to verify the recipientâs age through an app on their devices before handing over a parcel containing an age-restricted item."
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