The Government has defended the fact a long-promised ban on zombie-style blades will not come into force until the autumn, a year after it was promised by Rishi Sunak.

The Prime Minister said the new prohibition on zombie knives would “take them off our streets”.

But Labour has called the ban “too little, too late” and promised instead a wider crackdown on the availability of dangerous knives if it wins power at the next general election.

Fresh legislation is to be laid in Parliament to tackle zombie-style weapons, with the ban due to come into force in September making it illegal to possess, sell, manufacture or transport the blades.

While the move has been welcomed, including by actor and campaigner Idris Elba, there have been concerns that other weapons such as swords are still not included in the legislation.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, who visited Milton Keynes on Thursday alongside party leader Sir Keir Starmer, said the ban “goes nowhere near far enough and it is also too little, too late”.

“It doesn’t include ninja swords, it doesn’t include a whole series of dangerous weapons,” she told broadcasters.

Ms Cooper said the “penalties also aren’t strong enough” and the ban is “still not going to come in until the autumn”.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, knife crime offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales rose year-on-year but have not yet returned to levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some 48,716 offences were recorded in the 12 months to September 2023, a 5% rise from 46,367 in the previous 12 months.

It is right that changes to law are analysed and scrutinised through Parliament

Downing Street said the long lead-in time for the ban was the correct approach.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It is right that changes to law are analysed and scrutinised through Parliament.

“I don’t think people would want to avoid scrutiny of our laws.

“At the same time, we are giving people in possession of these knives the opportunity to hand them in before these legal implications come into force.

“That’s what we did with a previous ban implementing a surrender and compensation scheme.”

Earlier policing minister Chris Philp said that knife crime would not be tackled overnight and did not rule out further action on certain types of swords if necessary.

“The ban we’re introducing in Parliament today specifies the design of the bladed article… some swords could fall into that definition,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“A regular sword, like the sort a historic soldier might carry, would probably not qualify. It would depend on the design, but they may not qualify. That’s because there are a number of issues like… some religions have those swords.”

He added: “But the commitment that the Government will make, and I’ll make now, is that if we find in the future (that) there are other things that need to be brought into the scope, then we can do another statutory instrument like the one we’re doing today to ban those, because it’s much faster than using primary legislation.”

Mr Sunak told broadcasters during a visit to north Yorkshire on Thursday that the zombie knife clampdown, combined with police stop and search powers, would “make a difference”.

Defending the Government’s record on tackling knife crime, the Conservative Party leader said the ban would remove them from Britain’s streets and police would have “more powers” to ensure they have the “ability to seize knives when they see them so that they can take them out of dangerous people’s hands”.

The Prime Minister side stepped a question on growing calls for those found in possession of a knife to face a mandatory prison sentence, saying only that “penalties and sentences for people carrying knives have gone up over time” under the Tories.

Elba welcomed the new ban as a “step in the right direction” but expressed reservations about whether it will work as gaps remain in the legislation.

“Unfortunately it doesn’t ban all knives, including swords. However, the significant step towards zombie knives and machetes is something that I think is really important,” he said.

“We’ve seen in the past that it hasn’t achieved… in fact you see knife crime rise in certain instances. But I do think there is a slightly more joined-up approach.”

Labour has said it would create a new youth programme, an echo of New Labour’s SureStart childcare programme, to tackle knife crime with £100 million pledged for a nationwide initiative to support young people at risk of being drawn into violence.

Alongside the programme, it is also promising “real consequences” for those who offend, with an end to “empty warnings and apology letters” for those guilty of possession.