Keir Starmer’s focus on knife sales is a futile distraction

Tributes to the victims of the Southport killings left outside Liverpool crown court, where Axel Rudakubana was to be sentenced on 23 January 2025. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA

Keir Starmer’s reaction to the Southport killings includes addressing knife sales (Report, 22 February). Selling zombie-style blades is indefensible, but almost every domestic kitchen contains sharp knives: hindering under-18s’ access to them is performative but futile, distracting from addressing the real, difficult questions of who wants to kill, why, and whether and how they might be prevented before they break any laws.
Kimon Roussopoulos
Cambridge

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Sue Leverton
Marldon, Devon