Starmer promises action to end ‘shockingly easy’ access to knives online

Online retailers will be forced to put in place tougher checks to stop youngsters buying knives after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it is “shockingly easy” for children to buy blades.

Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana used a knife bought from Amazon to kill three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, in July.

The Government has promised new laws, which could see retailers forced to ask anyone buying a knife for two types of identification.

Buyers could be asked to submit an official identity document, such as a passport or driving licence, and also record a live video to prove their age, the BBC reported.

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 “absolute devastation” caused by the flow of blades.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs it is a “a total disgrace” 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: “It remains shockingly easy for our children to get their hands on deadly knives. The lessons of this case could not be clearer.

“Time and again, as a child, the Southport murderer carried knives. Time and again, he showed clear intent to use them.

“And 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.

“Knife 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,” 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 “in the end, we’ve got to have the right checks in place” and said the Government will “look at every measure that we can bring forward through legislation”.

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.

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the youngster was found with serious injuries near Scribers Lane in Hall Green shortly after 3pm on Tuesday.

Commander Stephen Clayman, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, is leading a review of online knife sales and had been due to report at the end of this month, but the plans are now being brought forward, the BBC said.

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 spokesman said: “We take our responsibility around the sale of all age-restricted items – including bladed products – 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 recipient’s age through an app on their devices before handing over a parcel containing an age-restricted item.”