Morrisons has become the first UK supermarket chain to remove sharp-pointed kitchen knives from sale, replacing them with blunt-ended models. This nationwide change follows a sharp rise in knife crime across Britain, with 49,151 knife-related offences recorded last year alone—a 50% increase over the past decade. Police and anti-knife charities back the move as a step to make communities safer and reduce impulsive knife attacks.
Blunt Knives For Safer Kitchens
Morrisons now stocks the Viners Assure Collection, featuring rounded-tip knives designed to be “just as effective in the kitchen but reduce the risk of harm,” according to Morrisons’ corporate affairs director David Scott. The supermarket hopes this initiative will help normalise safer knives nationwide and cut injury risks.
Campaign Backed By Survivors
Survivor Leanne Lucas, who endured a brutal attack in Southport where three girls were killed and ten injured, spearheads the “Let’s Be Blunt” campaign advocating blunt knives. She said, “The horror I saw that day must never be repeated,” highlighting the urgent need to change knife availability.
Charity Voices Support
Patrick Green, chief of the Ben Kinsella Trust—a leading knife crime prevention charity—praised Morrisons’ move, stating blunt knives “remove the opportunity, the impulsivity” behind knife attacks and “make things safer for everyone.” The Trust is a strong backer of the blunt knife campaign.
Pressure Mounts On Rivals
Morrisons’ pioneering step is expected to put pressure on other UK supermarkets to follow suit and limit access to sharp weapons capable of inflicting fatal stab wounds. Anti-knife campaigners view this as a significant push towards reducing violent knife crime across the UK.
