New government regulations will require online retailers to request two forms of identification from individuals purchasing knives: a passport-style identity document and a live video recording to prove their age, the BBC reports.
"The lessons of this case [Southport murders] could not be clearer," Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote in an opinion piece published in The Sun.
"Time and again, as a child, the Southport murderer carries knives. Time and again, he showed clear intent to use them. And yet tragically, he was still able to order the murder weapon off the internet without any checks or barriers," he said. "A two-click killer. This cannot continue."
Knife crime has significantly increased over the past ten years. The number of major offenses in England and Wales increased by 54 percent between 2016 and 2024, according to data.
"The technology is there to set up age-verification checks, even for kitchen knives ordered online," Starmer wrote. "We must now use it to protect our children from future attacks and I will ensure that this happens."
A spokesperson for Amazon said it has launched an investigation and takes "the sale of all age-restricted items, including bladed products, extremely seriously."
"We use trusted ID verification services to check name, date of birth, and address details whenever an order is placed for these bladed items," the spokesperson explained. "We have an age verification on the delivery process that requires drivers to verify the recipient's age through an app on their devices before handing over a parcel containing an age-restricted item."
Axel Rudakubana appeared in court on Monday and pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9. He killed them during a stabbing spree at a children's Taylor Swift-themed dance class last summer.
Despite Rudakubana's age and a prior conviction for a violent offense against another child at school, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper conveyed to the Commons that it was a "total disgrace" that he had been "easily able to order a knife on Amazon."
Additionally, Rudakubana acknowledged that he had carried a knife more than ten times and had been referred to Prevent, the government's anti-extremism program, on three separate occasions between 2019 and 2021, per the BBC.
