Moves to water down knife laws attacked

Published on Sunday 3 May 2009 22:11

LABOUR ministers have hit out at the "watering down" of plans for a government crackdown on the sale of knives.

The ban on the public display of knives and measures such as the requirement to have CCTV outside shops and blades kept in a locked cabinet will not now be compulsory, but instead be left to the discretion of local councils.

Labour is now calling for justice secretary Kenny MacAskill to explain the move in parliament.

Justice spokesman Richard Baker said: "With violent crime on the increase, this is no time to go soft on measures to stop lethal blades getting into the wrong hands.

"Kenny MacAskill needs to come and explain to parliament why on earth he thinks watering down these plans is acceptable.

"Families and communities are desperately calling for action. All they get are weaker laws with unacceptable delays."

It follows a recent knife summit in the Scottish Parliament which saw Mr MacAskill face opposition criticism for not attending. The summit was attended by community safety minister Fergus Ewing attended on behalf of the government.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We are working to set up a licensing scheme for dealers of non-domestic knives to help stop these weapons falling into the wrong hands.

"A number of points were made in response to our consultation that we've taken on board."

It means some requirements, such as CCTV cameras, secure cabinets for display and a ban on all public displays of knives, will be left to licensing authorities to consider as "discretionary conditions".

The plans were initiated by Labour in the last Scottish Parliament, but were not voted on before the 2007 election.

The spokeswoman added: "This allows councils to make sure they've got conditions in place that are proportionate and appropriate for the local area."