Knife Amnesty Will Make Rotherham Safer

New anti gun and knife laws are needed 'sooner rather than later'

Denis MacShane MP, welcomed the announcement of a national knife amnesty announced by Home Secretary, Charles Clarke MP today.

Police stations in Rotherham will be taking part in the nationwide knives amnesty to be held between 24 May and 30 June. A public campaign supporting the amnesty will urge people to hand in their knives.

The amnesty will build on initiatives including the anti-alcohol abuse crackdown and the Connected Fund which uses assets seized from criminals to fund anti-crime measures.

Denis MacShane MP said,

"A knife amnesty will be a great help in our fight to cut crime in Rotherham.

"It is important however that the amnesty is backed by tough measures to deter people from carrying knives and enforce tough punishments on those who do. The Violent Crime Reduction Bill currently being discussed in Parliament will do just that. The Bill will bring in tougher sentences for carrying imitation firearms; create a new offence of using other people to hide or carry guns or knives and raise the minimum age at which a young person can buy knife from 16 to 18"

"People in Rotherham will be staggered to hear that the Tories and Liberals are holding up the Violent Reduction Crime Bill.

"The Liberal Democrats MPs are refusing to back the tough new measures within the bill on carrying imitation fire arms and raising the age for the sale of knives.

"We need these new laws sooner rather than later, so rather than opposing measures, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives get behind the Violent Crime Reduction Bill so we can make Rotherham a safer place to live and work."