Home Secretary Yvette Cooper considers name by Idris Elba to ban kitchen knives with pointed ends forward of report into terror menace posed by Southport killer Axel Rudakubana
Yvette Cooper has revealed she is considering Idris Elba‘s call to ban kitchen knives with pointed ends in an attempt to prevent deadly stabbings.
The Home Secretary commented on the actor’s suggestion as she prepared to publish the findings of a Home Office review into the handling of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana by Prevent, the Government’s anti-extremism programme.
The murderer was referred to the scheme three times, with officers receiving information about his interest in school shootings, the London Bridge attack, the IRA, MI5 and the Middle East.
But each time they concluded he just had an unconventional interest in world affairs for a child aged 13 and 14. The review, elements of which have already been leaked, will find that counterterrorism officers were wrong not to consider him a terror threat.
Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in prison last month for the murder of three girls when he attacked a Taylor Swift themed dance class using a kitchen knife he bought on Amazon.
Speaking ahead of the review’s publication this afternoon, Ms Cooper said she was considering a proposal from Idris Elba to require all kitchen knives to have rounded ends to make it harder for them to be used for stabbings.

Idris Elba, who is pictured visiting Number 10 in September, has become a leading campaigner against knife crime

Ms Cooper said she was considering the actor’s proposal to ban kitchen knives with pointed ends

A kitchen knife with a rounded end. The proposal to ban those with pointed ends may prove controversial among chefs, who use the pointed ends of kitchen knives for a variety of purposes, including filleting fish (if they are not using a dedicated filleting knife) and making precise cuts
‘We are looking at the point that Idris Elba has made… we will look at any issue that might make children safer,’ she told The Times Crime and Justice Commission.
‘This is an issue that Idris has raised. It’s also an issue [raised by] surgeons who have dealt with knife crime. Victims have also raised this as well in the past. So that’s why we are looking at it.’
Mr Elba revealed his proposal on kitchen knives ahead of the release of his documentary, Idris Elba: A Year Of Knife Crime.
The 52-year-old Luther star said that whilst banning the sale of zombie knives was a positive first step, he also believed ninja swords should be outlawed and suggested kitchen blades have their sharp point removed.
He told the BBC: ‘Not all kitchen knives need to have a point on them, that sounds like a crazy thing to say. But you can still cut your food without the point on your knife, which is an innovative way to look at it.’
The proposal may prove controversial among chefs, who use the pointed ends of kitchen knives for a variety of purposes, including filleting fish (if they are not using a dedicated filleting knife) and making precise cuts.
Mr Elba’s new documentary sees the actor spend 12 months exploring the reality of the UK’s knife crime crisis.
A total of 507 children have been treated in English hospitals for knife injuries in the 12 months to April 2024, according to the latest figures analysed by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF).
In a bid to address the crisis, a ban on zombie knives and machetes came into place in England and Wales in September, making it an imprisonable offence to possess, sell, manufacture or transport them.

In September, a ban on zombie knives and machetes came into place in England and Wales, making it an imprisonable offence to possess, sell, manufacture or transport them
Mr Elba described the ban as a ‘massive step in the right direction’, but believed schools could intervene in young people’s lives earlier to stop them ‘going towards a dark place’.
He highlighted disciplinary action like school exclusions as an opportunity for teachers to pay more attention to children in their pre and early teens.
The award-winning screen star also believes young people in London gangs are ‘not big and scary’, adding it is ‘sad’ that society has ‘turned our back on them’.
Mr Elba said: ‘We are still in crisis. Numbers fluctuate and the types of crime vary. But I still think this country is in a crisis point. We need to intervene or it’s going to get worst.
‘The big thing that I learned in the room (when he visited Feltham Young Offender Institution for the show) is that they’re not big and scary in the way that it’s portrayed, gangs, balaclavas, black jackets.
‘These were people, young people, still grasping on to their development, it was sad. It just felt like they were just banged up behind there, and no one cares.
‘Of course, they’re being looked after there, but it did feel like, ‘oh, wow, we just turned our back on them’, because we’re expecting them to come out of there loved and ready to get back into society. It was really educational for me, and sad.’
Mr Elba spoke about ‘someone very close to me’ who had gone into a gang at the same time that he went into acting, and said he had spoken to him about the documentary.
Following Rudakubana’s sentencing, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the Government would bring in tougher checks for people trying to buy knives online.

Axel Rudakubana murdered three young girls at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in Southport
The killer’s Prevent review is set to find that counterterrorism officers did not properly assess his escalating interest in extreme violence.
Despite a history of troubling behaviour, including carrying a knife to school and attacking a fellow pupil, he was repeatedly referred to the Prevent programme between 2019 and 2021, but each time officers concluded he posed no threat.
The Prevent programme, which is run locally by police and authorities, first received concerns about Rudakubana’s behaviour in 2019.
Teachers at The Range High School in Formby reported that he had shown an unusual interest in school shootings and mass violence, including disturbing news articles about attacks in the US.
But counterterrorism officers dismissed the warning, believing it was merely an odd interest in current affairs rather than an indicator of radicalisation.
Last year 162 people were referred to Prevent for concerns about their interest in school massacres, according to the Home Office.
- Idris Elba: Our Knife Crime Crisis is available to watch on iPlayer.