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§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Timothy Kirkhope)I beg to move,
That it be an Instruction to the Committee on the Offensive Weapons Bill that it have power to make amendments to the Bill so as to make provision about—The Government fully support the Offensive Weapons Bill. It delivers a well-aimed blow at the growing evil of knife carrying, but we are especially concerned about the growth of that evil among young people. We want the Bill to be as effective as possible in relation to that age group. That is why the Government will introduce amendments in Committee.
- (a) supplying any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed to any person under the age of sixteen years, and
- (b) having any such article, or any offensive weapon within the meaning of section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 or section 47 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, on school premises.
First, our proposal will make it an offence for a person to sell a knife to someone under 16. It will be a defence for that person to prove that he exercised due diligence. There will be an order-making power, under which the Secretary of State for the Home Department may designate articles that are excepted from the ban. So far, it has been decided to designate small, folding pocket knives. The maximum penalty for an offence will be six months' imprisonment, a level 5 fine or both.
Secondly, the proposal will extend to schools and their grounds the offences of carrying a knife or offensive weapon. Those offences currently apply only to carriage in public. Police powers of stop and search for knives and offensive weapons will be extended to schools and their grounds. Penalties for offences committed on school grounds will be the same as those proposed for offences committed in public places—two years' imprisonment or a fine for carrying a knife, or four years' imprisonment or a fine for carrying an offensive weapon.
There is wide support for the introduction of such measures and I hope that the House will agree to the motion.
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§ Mr. Alun Michael (Cardiff, South and Penarth)I welcome the motion. It gives me the opportunity to point out the ludicrous display of the Minister of State, Home Office, with his false theatrical presentation and his Greek chorus behind him.
The motion brings into effect something that was requested in 1988 by my hon. Friend the Member for Dewsbury (Mrs. Taylor) and that was called for more than once, before the Bill was introduced, by the shadow Home Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw).
Conservative Members are guilty as charged. We could give a list of items on which they are guilty as long as your arm, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Most of our proposals were introduced when the Home Secretary and his deputy were responsible for criminal justice system matters. I do not intend to delay the House with references to those proposals, because the motion is limited, which, as I can see from your expression, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you also appreciate.
The motion gives the Committee that will consider the Bill the capacity to make proposals that go wider than the private Member's Bill introduced two weeks ago. We supported that Bill. The debate on it was another of those occasions when hon. Members on both sides of the House and both Front-Bench teams were united in supporting the need for action to deal with the possession of weapons. The capacity of the Committee to make such amendments goes a stage further in dealing with the possession of weapons by people under the age of 16.
During that debate, there were calls for problems of advertising and of the sale of weapons to be dealt with. I hope that, although the matter is not covered in the limited motion, the Government have given serious consideration to regulating the advertising of weapons. During the debate, we gave examples of some disgraceful heavy weapons that are available and that are advertised in a variety of publications, and for the possession and advertising of which there can be no reason or excuse.
I hope that, when the Committee considers the Bill, we shall find that the Government have co-operated with the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Lady Olga Maitland), who introduced the Bill, to ensure that we can deal with the issue of advertising as well as those dealt with in the motion. We called for those developments and we shall support them.
§ Question put and agreed to.