A deadly knife attack in the seaside town of Southport on Monday has sent shockwaves across Britain, as the county grapples with rising knife crime – up by nearly 80 percent since 2015.
Newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who promised to tackle knife crimes during campaigning, said the incident was “horrendous and deeply shocking news”.
On Tuesday, far-right groups rioted in the town, still in grief following the killing of three girls aged six, seven and nine. They attacked shops and a local mosque following false claims that an immigrant was responsible for the attack. Starmer has accused the far-right of exploiting the grief to “sow hatred”.
Here’s more about rising instances of knife violence in the country:
What happened in Southport?
A man went on a stabbing spree during a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop on Southport’s Hart Street on Monday.
Three young girls were killed. Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, passed on Monday. A third girl, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday.
Eight other children, five of whom are in critical condition, were also injured. Additionally, two adults were injured while trying to shield the children from the damage, according to the police.
Merseyside Police have arrested a 17-year-old male suspect and are continuing their investigation. The motive behind the stabbing remains unknown.
While the police have not named the suspect, far-right groups have been accused of pushing online misinformation and speculation regarding the attack. Unverified claims are being circulated that the suspect is a Muslim immigrant.
The police have discouraged the spread of rumours, confirming the suspect was born in the United Kingdom. The police are not linking the crime to “terrorism”.
Are knife crimes on the rise in the UK?
Knife crimes are on the rise in the UK, with more than 14,500 offences recorded last year, according to the UK Home Office. This was 46 percent of all the homicides in the country.
For the 10 years leading up to October 2023, 38 percent of homicide cases involved a sharp object, according to the House of Commons Library.
The Labour Party claims knife crimes have risen by nearly 80 percent since 2015.
Knife crimes saw a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they are again on the rise causing concern.
In January this year, English actor Idris Elba launched a public awareness campaign called Don’t Stop Your Future (DSYF), calling for a ban on so-called zombie knives (large bladed weapon eight inches in length) and machetes alongside better funding for youth services.
How common is gun violence in the UK?
Most armed crime in the UK involves sharp objects rather than guns. This is due to the UK’s strict regulation of gun ownership.
In 2021, the United States saw 4.31 deaths from gun violence per 100,000 people against the UK’s 0.013, according to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
Levels of firearm crimes in the UK remain among the lowest globally, according to the UK’s National Crime Agency.
“In Britain we often pat ourselves on the back that we don’t have America’s gun violence crisis. Yet in plain sight, we are now witnessing our own crisis – an horrific growth in knife crime and stabbings – and not enough is being done to stop it,” said a Labour Party action plan in January when the Conservative Party was still in power.
What are other reasons behind rising knife crimes in the UK?
There are a series of interconnected reasons driving knife crimes in the UK, Patrick Green, the CEO of The Ben Kinsella Trust told, Al Jazeera.
The Ben Kinsella Trust is a UK-based anti-knife crime charity which aims to bring awareness towards the dangers of knife crimes. It is named after Ben Kinsella, “a 16-year-old schoolboy who was killed in an unprovoked knife attack as he walked home from night out with friends 16 years ago”, Green said.
“Where there are drugs, there are knives.”
Green explained that in some cases, criminals and gangs lure younger people into “drug dealing and other activities” and help arm them “not to protect themselves, but to protect the drugs that they’re carrying”.
He added that there are certain vulnerabilities within UK’s youth that makes them prone to exploitation.
These vulnerabilities can include “unmet primary needs” due to factors such as poverty or racism, Green explained. Additionally, “young people who have undiagnosed or unsupported mental health or learning issues” are also prone to such exploitation.
Other factors such as austerity cuts might have also come into play. Former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak blamed London Mayor Sadiq Khan for failing to lower knife crime rates.
But Khan pointed out in late January that ever since the Conservative government came into power, it cut 1 billion pounds (around $1.3bn) in real terms to Metropolitan Police budgets, and knife crime rates have increased.
“Are we really surprised that if we cut the numbers of neighbourhood police and PCSOs [police community support officers], close down youth clubs, disempower local councils, beat a retreat from the public parks, estates, and high streets, then this is fertile grounds for crime and antisocial behaviour to flourish and criminal gangs fill the void?” said the Labour Party action plan in January.
Can the UK’s knife crime crisis be solved?
Leading up to the general elections in July, the Labour leader Starmer had promised that tackling knife crime would be “an absolute priority”. The newly elected Labour government has already introduced a new bill that seeks to crack down on the sale of ninja and samurai swords in an effort to address knife crime.
While the government announced bans and criminalised possession of certain types of knives, some legal loopholes remain.
Chris Philp, the policing minister, conceded in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that some sharp weapons may not qualify for the ban. Campaigners such as Elba call for the closure of these loopholes.
However, to get to the bottom of the issues that give rise to such crimes in the first place, “you clearly need to address those underlying issues,” said Green, adding that complex interventions are needed.
He added measures need to be taken to tackle inequality alongside the lack of education, inclusion or mental health support.
