Police get power to search for knives
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Your support makes all the difference.The Home Secretary yesterday announced he would strengthen police powers to stop and search gangs for knives, after the pressure for action in banning knives was intensified by an opposition coalition.
The Government will also mount an advertising campaign to warn young people to stop carrying knives. Michael Howard announced his two initiatives when Jack Straw, shadow Home Secretary, and the Liberal Democrat spokesman, Alex Carlile, met him at the Home Office to press for more action.
Labour intends to keep up the pressure by introducing a Bill to ban combat knives, in spite of the Home Office protests about the difficulties of defining the knives in law. A Bill to ban knives is to be taken up by Jimmy Wray, the Labour MP for Glasgow Provan, who came top in the ballot of MPs for the right to introduce legislation.
Mr Wray is guaranteed a Second Reading for his Bill, which will be introduced on 19 November. It increased the pressure on the Home Office to come forward with a workable definition by that deadline, and there were signs last night of more all-party co-operation to respond to the widespread public concern about knives.
Responding to the calls for action, Mr Howard said the police will be given guidance to stop and search gangs believed to be carrying knives, under new codes of practice to be issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1994.
The Home Secretary's moves were seen as an attempt to retrieve the initiative after demands by Labour and the Liberal Democrats to ban combat knives following the calls for action by Frances Lawrence, the widow of the stabbed head-teacher, Philip Lawrence.
Mr Howard also agreed to look into the call by Mr Straw and Mr Carlile for a different approach to a knives ban, moving away from a straight definition of knives to be outlawed.
He is examining the idea of twisting the balance towards a requirement that manufacturers and sellers of knives specify their purpose. Anything which did not fall into a useful purpose would be unlawful.
One government spokesman said that the politicians "all agreed that, having examined the issues, the prospect of anyone being able to come up with a workable definition to ban combat knives under the 1988 Criminal Justice Act provisions was highly unlikely".
The spokesman said that, in relation to new stop and search powers, the Home Office had been formally consulting the police over a number of months.
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