§ Sir Brian MawhinneyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his oral answer of 30 March 1998,Official Report, columns 885–86, if he raised the question of the 1998 FIFA World Cup knife at the seminar in Blackburn earlier this year, on policing the World Cup. [37350]
§ Mr. StrawA range of issues was discussed at the European Union Presidency Seminar in Blackburn at the end of February. It was an enormously successful event and illustrated the high level of liaison and co-operation we have established with our European partners in the fight against football hooliganism.
We first raised the issue of these knives with the French authorities well in advance of the Blackburn seminar. They can be in no doubt about our concern.
I am pleased to inform the right hon. Member that, following my Oral Answer to the House on 30 March, FIFA announced that afternoon that they intended to withdraw the knives carrying the France 1998 logo from sale in France.
I have also written to my French counterpart registering our concern that these knives should have ever been endorsed by France 1998. I have sought his assistance in ensuring that they are withdrawn from sale and that any other officially endorsed memorabilia do not constitute a risk to the safety and security of others.