London Mayor has called on the Government to urgently bring forward the long-promised new legislation to ban zombie-style knives and machetes – as soon as Parliament returns, the London Live reported.

Sadiq Khan has written to the Home Secretary Suella Braverman saying he welcomes government announcements in this area but said there is no time to waste in introducing this legislation and that it must be toughened up.

He has highlighted a number of loopholes in the proposals that should be closed immediately.

The Government proposals still allow for machete-style knives that have “legitimate use”, which includes for work or leisure according to the London Live’s report.

Sadiq Khan thinks there is not enough evidence to support these types of knives being used for such purposes, and that they are purchased solely to inflict harm, violence and to intimidate.

The number of knife or sharp instrument offences recorded by the police in London rose to approximately 12,786 in 2022/23, compared with 11,122 in the previous year, according to Statista’s statistics. This was the highest number of knife crime offences reported in London since 2019/20, when there were 15,928.