Actor Idris Elba has urged the government to immediately ban machetes and so-called zombie knives, saying it’s “time to push the agenda as strongly as we can”.

The Luther star has launched a campaign called Don’t Stop Your Future, and told Sky News that “the nation wants to see that we do care about our youth”.

“We’re seeing a rise not a decline and that needs to change,” Elba said.

“What [a ban] will symbolically say is that our society has no tolerance for it,” the actor added, urging the government to “put it at the absolute forefront” of the legislative agenda.

Elba is also lobbying for more funding in youth services and is releasing a song titled Knives Down in an effort to tackle serious youth violence across the UK.

He has urged the government to convene a cross-party, cross-governmental working group that brings together stakeholders who have a role to play in tackling knife crime.

An installation of neatly folded outfits, each representing someone who has died through knife crime on UK streets, is also on display in Parliament Square in central London.

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The Home Office said in August 2023 that tougher measures on machetes and zombie-style knives would be introduced.

But Parliament has been slow to pass new legislation, with several more attacks occurring since – including the killing of schoolgirl Elianne Andam.

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The 15-year-old was stabbed to death on her way to school in Croydon, south London, in September with what was believed to be a large zombie knife.

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with her murder.

Patrick Green, chief executive of anti-knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust, said: “Idris’s Don’t Stop Your Future campaign is a vital and much-needed intervention to shine a spotlight on serious youth violence, which has been neglected for too long.

“It’s horrifying that hardly a day goes by without the tragic news of someone being hurt, maimed, or even killed with a machete or zombie knife.”

Watch the full interview with Idris Elba on UK Tonight on Sky News at 8pm

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