The Home Secretary paid a visit to Kent yesterday to meet with police ahead of plans to crackdown on knife crime.

James Cleverly joined police officers from the Kent Violence Reduction Unit ahead of an imminent announcement to ban zombie-style knives and machetes.

He chatted to the officers while on a foot patrol through Gravesend’s New Road about their work to deter at-risk youths from serious violence, offering outreach to schools, voluntary tagging demonstrations, and involvement in sports initiatives to guide them toward a positive future.

He saw first-hand how youth violence prevention projects are helping steer young people away from violent crime.

Mr Cleverly also welcomed pupils from Northfleet School for Girls in Hall Road to Northfleet police station.

A spokesman for the school said: “It was a rather last-minute invite with tight security, however, we were able to take seven students along with Ms Selmes and Mrs Grinyer who organised signing our school up to an anti-knife crime pledge.

“Our students were amazing, speaking with such clarity and articulation around their understanding of knife crime and how they have been supported by our school to stay safe.”

The new legislation aimed at taking the weapons off our streets.

Under the measures, first announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last year and laid before Parliament on Thursday, it will be illegal to possess, sell, manufacture or transport these zombie-style knives and machetes.

As part of the ruling, the government is urging anyone with one of these dangerous weapons to voluntarily hand it into a knife surrender bin, before the official surrender and compensation scheme is launched in the summer.

The full ban is due to come into force in September, after which anyone in possession will face time behind bars.

It is part of a package of measures being introduced by the government to strengthen existing knife crime laws, which are already among the toughest in the world.

‘We must stop these dangerous knives ending up on our streets and in the hands of criminals’

The Criminal Justice Bill will go further by increasing the maximum sentence for the possession of banned weapons from six months to two years, while anyone caught selling knives to under-18s, including online, will also face two years behind bars.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Knife crime continues to take precious lives away, and I am determined to put an end to this senseless violence.

“We must stop these dangerous knives ending up on our streets and in the hands of criminals. We cannot let them be sold to children, and we must give young people a way out of violence.

“That is why I have expedited the ban on zombie-style machetes and we are increasing the maximum sentence for selling knives to under 18s. We will continue to invest in youth services that have prevented thousands of violent injuries.”

The legislation laid in Parliament will amend the Criminal Justice Act 1988.