Government will announce tougher checks for people buying knives online which could involve a two-step verification

Good morning. Keir Starmer gave a speech yesterday on the government’s reaction to the Southport killings, and Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, followed that up with a long statement to MPs. There were various announcements alongside the public inquiry proposed and we cover them here.

This morning there is more. After Cooper told MPs yesterday that it was a “total disgrace” that the killer, Axel Rudakubana, could buy a knife on Amazon at the age of 17, the government is today announcing that it is going to require tougher checks for people buying knives online, which could involve a two-step verification. As the BBC reports, “online retailers will be forced to ask anyone buying a knife for two types of identification under government plans, with buyers asked to submit an identity document, such as a passport, and record a live video to prove their age.”

It remains shockingly easy for our children to get their hands on deadly knives. The lessons of this case could not be clearer.

Time and again, as a child, the Southport murderer carried knives. Time and again, he showed clear intent to use them.