The City of Edinburgh Council has called for a review of all exemptions for blade carrying and purchasing from the Scottish and UK Governments.
The call comes as the council responded to the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton, as well as the “terror-linked” attacks across the city.
Vickrum Digwa, the Sikh man who murdered Nowak, claimed he was carrying the blade used in the attack for religious reasons, leading to calls for religious and other exemptions to be revoked.
Edinburgh Council’s SNP Group has also claimed that loopholes currently exist in Scotland which allow people to purchase dangerous weapons online. Social media “grey markets”, which allow people to bulk buy knives, and international sellers operating outwith UK regulation are commonly-cited examples.
In tabling the motion – which eventually passed – they called on the council to note the Nowak family’s demand for a blanket ban on all knives, and asked the council leader to write to both governments seeking a review of all exemptions for blade carrying and purchasing, including loopholes allowing dangerous weapons to be purchased online.
In Scotland and the UK, it is permissible to carry knives for ceremonial purposes, allowing blades like the Sgian-dubh – which is worn as part of traditional Highland dress – and the Sikh Kirpan – a blade Sikhs are required to wear as part of their religious uniform – to be worn.
This, however, is permitted provided the knives are not brandished or used to threaten or harm any other members of the public.
During the meeting, the SNP’s Adam Nols-McVey also referred to Lisa Petrie, whose son John McNab died in an alleged stabbing in Leith in September:
“I tabled this motion before the horrors of what were happening on the street of Edinburgh came to fruition, but I tabled it predominantly as a father in response to what is a nightmare that far too many people have had to experience.
“Mark Nowak and Lisa Petrie, to name just two, who have turned what has been a horrific, tragic circumstance for themselves into positive action to prevent this action from happening to others, because it is a parent’s absolute worst nightmare to send your kids out and for them not to appear back home.
“However, now I feel myself moving this as a neighbour, as a friend, as a brother to people right across the city who feel particularly targeted by the threat that any lunatic could pose within our society.
“That fundamentally is about community safety and the kind of society that we build, and I’m grateful to colleagues for the motions that were debated and brought forward in unison earlier on in the debate, but it’s also about the availability of the weapons, which can do the most damage.”
He added: “In that vein, I’m bringing this motion forward to try and encourage the most stringent possible response in terms of the availability of dangerous weapons and knives within the city.
“It’s worth saying that there are a huge number of regulations which very effectively control the sale of dangerous weapons, but there are also a number of loopholes and a number, particularly of online sales, which are designed to get around that legislation, and it does need as robust a response as possible.”
The leader of the council, Councillor Jane Meagher, underlined her concern at the rise in anti-social behaviour in Edinburgh, and tabled a motion to have the council bring all of the resources, “both financial and human”, the council has to bear in tackling the issue.
She added: “I welcome this motion from Councillor Nols-McVey, and our addendum seeks to strengthen the council’s arsenal of responses to this problem affecting our residents.
“I am in regular contact with the police, and this relationship we need to build on and strengthen, as well as those links we have with partner organisations to focus on tackling criminal and anti-social behaviour.”
The council’s Green group feared that stricter rules around the carrying of knives could have knock-on effects on ethnic minorities, for whom the carrying of ceremonial knives is a requirement for their religion. They described calls for the banning of the Kirpan as “reactionary and nonsensical”.
They also suggested that Scotland could make greater use of knife amnesties – in which the police ask people to anonymously hand knives back to the police without threat of prosecution or repercussions for carrying them.
Reform UK has called for the carrying of the Kirpan to be banned, leading to indignation among the British Sikh community.
The family of Henry Nowak, similarly, has called for a blanket ban on all religious exemptions.
Councillor Tim Jones, of the Conservatives, said: “There is now a growing consensus that a review of all exemptions for blade carrying and purchasing is carried out as a matter of urgency in response to this horrific crime, the stabbing of Henry Nowak.
“So I welcome the motion by the SNP, which they brought forward today, but we need to be clear what it is we are calling for and why our own leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has called specifically for a new review of religious practices and exemptions that permit the carrying of dangerous weapons in public.
“She goes further to say that the country must be prepared to carefully and seriously examine religious exemptions for knife laws.”
The amendment eventually passed by the Labour administration brought in elements of every party’s proposals, including the call for review of knife-carrying. The Council leader is now expected to write to the Scottish Government on the matter.
A narrower motion by the SNP, which would have rejected some of the additions by the Labour Group and Greens, was voted down.
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Neil Gray said:
“There is no reason to ever carry a weapon, at any time. The Scottish Government fully supports Police Scotland to take appropriate and proportionate action to safeguard public safety.
“We continue to work with partners to tackle and prevent youth violence and in particular knife crime, alongside education, diversion and mentoring programmes.
“This is supported by our investment of more than £8 million since 2023 in targeted prevention and early intervention activity in schools, hospitals and across communities to tackle violence and its harms.
“We are also investing record funding of more than £1.7 billion for policing in 2026-27 and Scotland continues to have more police officers per head of population than England and Wales.”
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