A London-based Christian youth charity has criticised the launch of a new knife amnesty in England, announced ahead of next month’s total ban on so-called ‘ninja swords’.
Speaking to Premier Christian News, Tom Pickering, communications manager for XLP, said:
“These actions feel like putting a plaster over a deeper wound rather than asking why the wound got there in the first place.
“I think it’s much easier to focus on objects – in this case the knives – rather than acknowledging there’s maybe a people problem we want to sort.”
XLP works with young Londoners who face family breakdown, unemployment, anti-social behaviour and gang involvement.
From today the Government is rolling out surrender bins in 37 hubs across the country in a bid to halve knife crime. According to the Youth Endowment Fund, more than 80% of teenagers aged 13 to 19 who were murdered were killed with a blade. The bins will be placed in London, Manchester and the West Midlands, three of the areas with the highest knife-crime rates in England.
From August, ninja swords – long, curved blades that are often serrated – will be banned completely. Anyone found with one could face six months in prison, rising to up to four years in more serious cases.
The move follows the 2022 stabbing of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda in Wolverhampton.
Commenting on the forthcoming change in the law, Pickering was positive but realistic about what a ban can achieve. He said: “Cannabis is still everywhere and very easy to get hold of, but if we make it harder for people to get their hands on these knives, then it’s less likely that people will have them and be able to use them.”
XLP works in schools and youth clubs and operates mobile youth centres, such as converted buses, where young people can play games and record their own music in a safe space.
Pickering called on Christians to help tackle the root causes of knife crime and address teenagers’ wider fears: “If you’re someone who can’t put something into action, pray about it; if you’re someone who can, pray about it and take action.”