Westminster Diary - 1st June 2006

Thursday, 1st June 2006

For the next few weeks, a variety of illegally held bladed weapons can be handed in at police stations by their owners without fear of arrest or prosecution. Amnesties like this one happen periodically and result in the collection of some terrifying weapons which were being carried on our streets.

Some of those weapons are being carried by people who intend to use them to commit an offence - an assault or a robbery for example – but most knives are carried, according to their owners, for protection from a potential assault or robbery. Knives are easily obtainable and a mini arms race has taken place with a weapon being carried to put the carrier on equal terms with a potential assailant who could be carrying one. This is an extremely worrying situation, especially because a large proportion of those carrying knives are teenagers and even children. School fights and arguments at the bus stop have the potential to lead to tragedy. We cannot guarantee the safety of teachers who will intervene to separate pupils in the playground. We cannot accept this state of affairs and welcome action is being taken in recent legislation to give teachers the powers they need to search for and confiscate weapons in schools. In the meantime I urge all those who own and carry a knife to hand it in. You will be better off without it and so will everyone else.

The problem needs a broader answer though. The irony is that while some teenagers carry knives because they believe they will be safer, possession of a knife puts them in great danger, sometimes from themselves. An alcohol fuelled argument between 2 friends carrying knives can lead to a death and a murder charge. The answer is not simple or easy. It requires us to create a feeling of security for those teenagers, which comes from something other than the feel of a knife handle. Teachers must have the power to impose meaningful discipline in school and parents must support them when they do so. Above all, we need a greater visible police presence on our streets, as a reassurance for us all. Only when we see more police officers will we see fewer knives.

---

Updated on Thursday, 1st June 2006