London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Yvette Cooper promised to halve knife crime across the UK in a decade and to present a ban on ninja swords during her address at the Labour Conference.
The Home Secretary expressed it’s too easy for children to order “lethal weapons” online without reviews. She described to the conference audience: “This Labour government will bring in new rules to crack down on dangerous online deals and the gangs who draw children in, alongside new youth hubs, to guide young people away from violence – a teenage surestart to build expectancy in the future.
“We will make it an assignment for our whole country to split knife crime in a decade and this Labour government will pass Ronan’s Law, a ban on ninja swords.”
Ms Cooper’s emphasis on the rule of law comes on the day a prohibition on owning zombie-style knives and machetes comes into force. It tracks a four-week amnesty scheme where owners were urged to hand the weapons into police, local authorities or knife crime charities.
How did recent riots impact community safety?
Speaking on the UK riots, the Home Secretary stated disorder and violence should not “silence a serious debate” on immigration, as she also declared the Conservatives are evolving “right-wing wreckers”.
The Home Secretary criticised recent riots and disorder that broke out in parts of the country following a knife raid at a Southport dance studio on July 29 that left three girls dead. Ms Cooper marked the incidents “arson”, “racism” and “thuggery” before stating she was “shocked” by the reaction from some in “political parties on the right who once declared to care about law and order”.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Ms Cooper expressed she had spoken to children about their adventures when the Spellow Hub library was set on fire during a disturbance on County Road in the city. She stated: “One told me how scared she was that night, how her mum switched off all the lights in the house and told her to stay calm and sit on the stairs as bins were set alight along her street.”
She said: “So don’t anyone tell me that was a protest. Don’t tell me that was around immigration policing or poverty. Plenty of people have strong opinions on immigration, crime, the NHS and more, but they don’t pick up bricks and toss them at the police. They don’t set light to buildings with people inside. It was arson. It was racism. It was thuggery. It was the offence.”