Missing the Forest for the Trees: UK to Add More Restrictions on Buying Knives Online After Southport Stabbings

The British government is reportedly planning on banning doorstep drop-off deliveries of knives bought online following the mass stabbing at a children’s dance party in Southport by second-generation migrant Axel Rudakubana.

While critics have pointed to multiple failings of authorities to heed warnings about Rudakubana’s radicalisation, the left-wing Labour Party government appears intent on pinning the tragic stabbing spree — which left three young girls dead and several others injured — at the hands of supposed loopholes in purchasing knives online.

According to The Telegraph, online retailers such as Amazon will be prevented from delivering a knife to anyone other than the person who purchased it to provide a further ID check to prove the buyer is above 18. This will come in addition to a two-step verification, in which buyers must provide identification and a ‘selfie’ picture to verify the ID is theirs.

Rudakubana, who was sentenced to 52 years in prison this week over the Southport stabbings, had reportedly skirted the pre-existing checks by using software to disguise his internet address and identity.

The delivery of the two knives he bought while under 18 was reportedly accepted by an adult at his residence, believed to be one of his Rwandan parents.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that it is a “total disgrace how easy it still is for children to get dangerous weapons online,” adding: “We cannot go on like this. We need much stronger checks – before you buy, before it’s delivered.

“The measures I am setting out today will be crucial in addressing this problem and are part of our Plan for Change and mission to make streets safer.”

However, the government’s heavy focus on where Rudakubana obtained a knife rather than on the root cause of the attack has drawn backlash.

Earlier this week, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage remarked: “Starmer wants us to talk about how a 17-year-old could buy a knife online. The truth is there are murder weapons in every kitchen drawer.

“What we should be talking about is the total failure to stop this terrorist [and] the cover-up of information that the public were entitled to.”

According to a report from The Times of London, Rudakubana was referred to the anti-terror Prevent programme three times before the Southport attack.

The report also found that in 2019, long before ordering any knives on Amazon, Rudakubana had admitted to taking a knife from his kitchen “on several occasions” and had thoughts of killing someone.

While officers were tipped off about his keen interest in terror attacks and school shootings, they reportedly dismissed the warnings, chalking them up to him having an “interest in world news”.

Despite this, as well as being found guilty of possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual and the potent biotoxin ricin, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to classify the attack in Southport as terrorism. The CPS argued that there was insufficient evidence of an ideological motivation for the attack.

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