The fee would cover every knife made in or imported into the UK
A retired judge has written an open letter to the Chancellor calling on her to include a tax on pointed kitchen knives in the Budget. Former circuit judge Nic Madge wants a tax of around £20 on pointed knives to discourage consumers from using them, which he believes would work in a similar way to charges for plastic bags.
He wrote: “Some people call for a ban on new pointed kitchen knives, but expert chefs, butchers and fishmongers need them. An easier and less controversial method would be to create a price differential. The imposition of a 5p charge for single use plastic bags rendered them obsolete.
“In the absence of agreement from manufacturers and retailers, Rachel Reeves should use the Budget to impose a tax of, say, £20 on every pointed knife more than three inches long that is manufactured or imported into the UK.”
Last week yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, who survived the Southport attack, was among campaigners including Mr Madge at an anti-knife crime conference in London calling for consumers to move to round-ended knives. He is co-founder of the Safer Knives Group which campaigns for the change, while Ms Lucas founded her own campaign Let’s Be Blunt, in the wake of the Southport atrocity, which is pushing for the same move.
Earlier this year research by De Montfort University found that 10 different round-edged blades failed to penetrate cotton and denim after 1,200 stabbing attempts, while two different pointed blades did. We can debate the amount of any tax, but £20 would have a minimal effect on businesses: a plate of fish and chips can cost £20 in London and it is nothing compared with the value of a life lost,” Mr Madge said.
“Duties on tobacco and alcohol provide a precedent for taxes on items which cost the NHS, and fuel tax is an example of a fixed-sum tax (52.95p per litre). It would be easier to collect and enforce a tax on manufacturers and importers, than to target retailers.
“It would enable HMRC to seize any imported knives on which duty is not paid. Arguably, total knife sales would not be adversely affected. If anything, with the ability to advertise and openly display knives, manufacturers’ and retailers’ markets could increase.
“And it would give British manufacturers (many of whom already produce rounded knives) a commercial advantage over foreign importers. Finally, a knife tax would cost the Government nothing.
“Indeed, in the short term, it would be a very small step towards filling Rachel Reeves’s black hole. In the long term, it would reduce knife harm.”
