Crime and Security Bill

My Lords, this proposal is not new. I brought it forward on 9 October 2006 as an amendment to the Police and Justice Bill. It was voted on and very nearly accepted, having received support from all parties, particularly the Liberal Democrat party. The result of the vote was contents 93 and not-contents 101. The essence of the proposal is to make it absolutely clear that the police have the right to get guns off the streets of our cities and towns. They already have many powers, as has been referred to in previous debates on this subject, but the point of this amendment is that it would make it unequivocally clear to everyone that the police have that right. Since October 2006, when I last raised the issue, the need for this legislation has become all the more important. Sadly, the extent of gun crime has not really reduced, while in many areas knife crime has actually increased. This amendment is not being put forward on the basis of knife crime, but the same methods by which the police would ensure that guns are not on the street—the use of non-intrusive metal detectors, whether they be arches set up in the street in an area that the police wish to check through which everyone has to pass, or hand-held metal detectors—would be the same. Unlike drugs, which are hard to find without using much more intrusive and controversial methods of searching, it should be possible to make it almost as risky to carry a weapon such as a gun or a knife on the streets as it would be for any of us to attempt to take these objects through an airport and on to an aeroplane in this country. The technology exists, and what is needed is the expectation that it is risky to carry a gun in this country, with the corollary being that of carrying a knife. There have been so many tragic cases reported since October 2009. One of the most recent, of which all noble Lords will be aware, was that poor young person who was knifed to death outside Victoria station. I am not saying that my proposal would instantly end all such crime, but if it were possible for the police to search without having to go through the other, elaborate legislation that in many circumstances allows searches to be made, and if there were a blanket provision and it were used sensibly, sensitively and intuitively, using good intelligence, I believe that it would be possible greatly to reduce the extent to which people took the risk of carrying a gun or a knife. That is why I recommend it to your Lordships. I intended to bring this amendment forward had we had a longer opportunity to discuss this important Bill, but it is none the less desirable that we should consider it today. I beg to move.