XL bullies and knife crime: Do Parliament have their priorities straight?

A major function of the UK parliament is its role as a legislature, which involves input on law-making processes and reactions to legislative proposals put forward by the government (Thompson, 2020, p.43). This piece of writing does not intend to question parliament’s overall effectiveness in such processes. Instead, the purpose of this blog post is to highlight inconsistencies in the effectiveness of its legislative process by comparing the amendments of bills concerning XL bullies and knife crime.  

For a long time the overriding attitude towards the UK parliament is that it is a weak institution with a declining influence, spotlighted boldly by the workings of the legislative process. With cabinet proposals making up a significant majority of the legislative agendas and the proposals adopted (Benton and Russell, 2009, p.6), there is no wonder that parliament faces perceptions of unfavourable power-relations. However, in more recent years and with a focus on the less visible impacts of parliament, there has been evidence of the effective influence of parliament. Analysis by Cowley and Russell into the thousands of divisions within parliament, showed that keeping issues off the agenda and setting parameters for a bill (Cowley and Russell, 2009, p.130) were key capabilities of the UK parliament. Thus, parliament is integral to the legislative process, making the amendments of bills crucial indicators of the effectiveness of parliamentary influence.  

Amendments to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, saw the banning of the American XL bully breed of dog as a result of an increase in reports of severe attacks by that breed of dog (Ares and Sturge, 2023, p.2). Combined with calls for changes to legislation from a parliamentary petition in January 2023, the dog breed was added to the list of banned breeds as of December 2023 (Ares and Sturge, 2024, p.7). Recognition of the threat of the dog breed and responsiveness to the wants of the public led to the diligent amendment of the bill within the space of a year, showing parliament’s ability to act effectively in the interests of the government and citizens.  

Criminal - Westgate Chambers

However, can the same effectiveness be observed for other calls for policy changes? Urges for the ban of certain types of machetes and large knives remain ongoing, with Idris Elba becoming the latest public figure to advocate for the immediate banning of them (Rawlinson, 2024). Recent amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill have increased police powers, increased penalties, and introduced new offences all in relation to knife crime, however, banning machetes and other large knives is a measure that will be addressed when ‘parliamentary time allows’ (Government UK, 2023). Between April 2021 and March 2022, 282 homicides caused by a sharp instrument were recorded across England and Wales (ONS, 2023), whilst there have been 32 deaths caused by dog attacks since 2019 across England and Wales (ONS, 2023). Statistics give a clear picture of the bigger threat. 

I will carve a swastika on your forehead with a knife,” Jewish man  reportedly told

Of course, it is important to note that the issue of knife crime is a complicated, multifaceted problem that requires more than just the work of parliament. Also, parliament has made it clear that this matter is high up on their agenda (Government UK, 2024), but with around 50,000 knife crime offences being committed each year (ONS, 2023), legislative amendments need to happen sooner. Discussions of intended changes can be seen as an amplification of what is known as the expectation gap, which describes the difference between public expectations of what should be delivered, and what realistically can be delivered (Flinders and Kelso, 2011, p.252). In this comparison, parliamentary responses to XL bully issues have inflated expectations and subsequently undermined public confidence (Flinders and Kelso, 2011, p.252) when the same urgency was not delivered on the matter of machetes and other large knives. In the context of knife crime, criticisms can be made that society is expecting too much from parliament to begin with (Flinders, 2014, p.5), as the problem runs so deeply in many aspects of social life. However, banning dog breeds is not a straightforward matter either, yet was met with a swift response from parliament. Though this explanation is slightly oversimplified, the expectation gap indicates the importance of parliament to deliver on proposals, as a failure to do so can have serious implications for the politics of the country.  

As mentioned before, the issue of knife crime is one that requires layers of response which will not be fixed overnight. This blog post is not intended to examine the details that go into parliamentary legislative processes, but rather how the different responses to the two examples may lead to serious questioning from the public. There is no doubt that parliament can effectively fulfil its legislative roles, however, inconsistency has overshadowed examples of effectiveness thus lowering public confidence in parliament to deal with the most fatal matters.  

Bibliography 

Ares, E. & Sturge, G., (2024). The Ban on XL Bully dogs. House of Commons Library  

Benton, M. & Russell, M. (2012) Assessing the Impact of Parliamentary Oversight Committees: The Select Committees in the British House of Commons. Parliamentary affairs. 66 (4), pp.772–797  

Flinders, M. & Kelso, A. (2011), Mind the Gap: Political Analysis, Public Expectations, and the Parliamentary Decline Thesis. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 13(1), pp.249-268  

GOV.UK. (n.d.). Government bans machetes and zombie knives. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-bans-machetes-and-zombie-knives.  

GOV.UK. (n.d.). New law to ban zombie-style knives and machetes. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-law-to-ban-zombie-style-knives-and-machetes#:~:text=Zombie%2Dstyle%20knives%20and%20machetes%20will%20be%20outlawed%20under%20legislation [Accessed 3 Feb. 2024].  

Office for National Statistics (2023). Appendix tables: Homicide in England and Wales – Office for National Statistics. [online] Ons.gov.uk. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/appendixtableshomicideinenglandandwales.   

Office for National Statistics. (n.d.). Deaths by dog attack in the UK 2019 to 2023 including all context of death – Office for National Statistics. [online] Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/deathsbydogattackintheuk2019to2023includingallcontextofdeath

Olson, D.M., (2015). Democratic Legislative institutions: a comparative view: a comparative view. Routledge.  

Rawlinson, K. (2024). Idris Elba calls for immediate ban on machetes and ‘zombie’ knives. The Guardian. [online] 8 Jan. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/08/idris-elba-calls-for-immediate-ban-on-machetes-and-zombie-knives.  

Russell, M, & Cowley, P., (2016) The policy power of the Westminster parliament Governance, 29(1), pp. 121-137  

Russell, M. & Benton, M., (2009). Assessing the policy impact of parliament: Methodological challenges and possible future approaches. In Paper for PSA Legislative Studies Specialist Group Conference, 24(1), pp.1-27  

Thompson, L., (2020). UK parliament. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 43–56     

Flinders, M., (2014). Explaining democratic disaffection: Closing the expectations gap. Governance, 27(1), pp.1-8.