Fury mounts over online gun sales as police chief hints at change | Politics

Anyone trying to buy a knife online will have to show ID and a video recording of themselves under new plans to stop crime weapons being “bought in two clicks”.

Sir Keir Starmer has promised urgent action to stop under-18s buying knives online, saying it was “surprisingly easy” for killers such as Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana to get their hands on weapons.

Online marketplaces will have to implement two-step verification processes as part of stricter checks for customers buying knives.

It will require buyers to show identification and video proving they are 18, under proposals drawn up by a police chief.

Commander Stephen Clayman, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, is leading a review into online knife sales and was due to report at the end of the month, but plans have now been brought forward.

Rudakubana admitted carrying a knife more than ten times before buying a kitchen knife on Amazon to carry out his deadly attack in Southport in July last year.

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said: “It is unacceptable that these murder weapons can be bought with two clicks. The technology is here to stop this, and we will act. »

He told MPs: “The senseless and barbaric murder of three young girls in Southport was devastating.

“Some measure of justice has been served, but for the victims, the injured and those affected, we must see a fundamental change in the way Britain protects its citizens and its children.”

He promised that the public inquiry announced by the government “will not allow any institution to turn away from its failures” in this affair.

Patrick Green, chief executive of the charity Ben Kinsella Trust, which fights knife crime, said the Southport tragedy shows “how negligent online markets are”.

The charity was founded by former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella, after her brother Ben, 16, was stabbed to death in Islington in 2008.

Mr Green added that the ease of online sales is “a damning indictment”, saying: “Retailers are just entirely focused on making money and not on protecting the public.

“The law has proven insufficient.

“We need to fill the gap that exists around online marketplaces.

“This is not an isolated incident. There have been a number of incidents like this.”

The need for action against knife crime was further illustrated when a 12-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Birmingham on Tuesday.

Bruce Houlder, founder of Fighting Knife Crime London, told the PA news agency that knife crime is “more worrying than ever”.

After working as a criminal lawyer for 52 years, Mr Houlder founded the anti-knife organization to try to “find solutions to knife crime”, providing young people with what he calls a “one-stop shop for information” on the subject.

He said: “I think there should be much stricter legislation.

“It is foreseeable that these knives will be used to cause injury.”

Mr Houlder added there were “not enough measures” to stop online retailers selling knives, calling them “complicit in the crimes that end up being committed”.

He also stressed that retailers should be aware of the items they are selling and how they could be used.

“What excuse can some young people use to buy most of the knives currently on sale?

“The only goal is to sell it to someone who doesn’t have good motives.”

It is illegal to sell knives to under 18s. Currently, customers ordering knives online must provide their date of birth and should expect to have their identity verified upon delivery as well as providing a signature.

An Amazon spokesperson said: “We take our responsibility for the sale of all age-restricted items – including bladed products – extremely seriously and have launched an urgent investigation into this tragic matter. .

“We use trusted identity verification services to verify name, date of birth and address every time an order is placed for these bladed items.

“We have a delivery age verification process that requires drivers to verify the age of the recipient through an app on their devices before handing over a package containing an age-restricted item.”