This editor really respects Idris Elba as an actor. He was fantastic in "Luthor" and would make a fine James Bond. James Bond, though, carries and gun and is licensed to kill. Though the United Kingdom likes to rub America's gun crime statistics in our faces, Britain has a terrible scourge of knife crime. Police have raided charity shops, confiscating knives (and rusty spoons) and set up "knife amnesty bins" around London so people can rid themselves of sharp objects.
In 2018, London Mayor Sadiq Khan imposed a knife ban in the capital:
No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife. Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law. https://t.co/XILUvIFLOW
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) April 8, 2018
In 2019, Conservative Member of Parliament Scott Mann suggested that a GPS tracking device be fitted in every knife handle. "It’s time we had a national database like we do with guns," he said.
Just this year, Prime Minister Kier Starmer promised a crackdown on knives. The BBC reported that England and Wales would be required to report any bulk or suspicious knife purchases to police, the jail term for selling weapons to under-18s would increase from six months to two years, and a new policing unit backed with £1m of funding to monitor for weapons being sold illegally on social media would also be created.
But back to Elba. He was asked by BBC Radio 4 about knife crime, and while he's for a sword registry so that you can get a license for your grandpa's sword from World War II, he wonders if kitchen knives really needed a pointy end.
Idris Elba on how to stop knife attacks in the UK.
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) May 27, 2025
Not gonna lie I thought this was parody at first cause what? 😆pic.twitter.com/q553zbGzim
He should know that Starmer promised that ninja swords would be banned by this summer.
I'll keep my beautiful kitchen knives, along with any other knives I want. And I'll carry a gun in case someone tries to stab me.
— Joe Moutard (@IamtheJoeMo) May 28, 2025
Idris is spot on here. Removing all pointy objects from society would be a simpler and more effective way to reduce crime. Surely, criminals would never dream of picking up a heavy, blunt object to cause harm instead.
— OJ (@ojenabosi) May 28, 2025
Next up: Surgeons can learn how to operate with butter knives.
— Andrea E (@AAC0519) May 28, 2025
Gotta trade out regular scissors for safety scissors too! Great ideas 💡😁
— Name cannot be blank (@GoBlue369) May 27, 2025
Yes, let's keep banning things instead of facing what is really the cause.
— Claudia Walker (@RagsDaisyRemy) May 28, 2025
I hate getting to know my favorite actors
— Brandon 🇺🇸 (@Bishop0051) May 28, 2025
UK makes fun of the USA's shootings, but they have just as many stabbings a year as we have shootings.
— Bacon Overlord (@OGBaconOverlord) May 27, 2025
50K.
Kinda makes you think it's not really about the guns.
I’ve carried a knife many days and have never hurt a single soul with it. It does have a point. It’s not a kitchen knife or even a heritage knife. I count on it to hurt something if I ever need it to.
— Big Deal (@BecomingBigDeal) May 27, 2025
This is why Americans won’t budge on guns. Next thing you know, they want your cutlery because “people don’t kill people, forks kill people.”
— Vic (@blackirishblack) May 27, 2025
A society that needs to have this type of discussion about kitchen knives is finished since the actual problem will never be addressed.
— Old Bearded Man (@1OldBeardedMan) May 28, 2025
How about kitchen knives without pointy ends and a GPS unit embedded in the handle?
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