With violent crime rising and police numbers falling, is it time to let Britons carry self-defence tools like pepper spray?

After the Dunblane massacre, we acted quickly and decisively. We tightened our gun laws and made clear that such tragedies should never be allowed to happen again.

But when it comes to knife crime—and mass stabbings in particular—we haven’t shown the same resolve.

Yesterday’s mass stabbing on a train from Doncaster to London is the fourth such incident this year alone. Since 2020, there have been fifteen. Since 1994, thirty-one. And in the reporting year ending March 2025, police recorded approximately 49,600 offences involving a sharp instrument in England and Wales.

That’s not a rounding error. That’s a crisis.

So where is the urgency? Where is the bold action? Where is the national conversation to ensure families never again receive the news that their loved one has been critically injured—or worse, killed—by a stranger with a knife?

As a candidate in next year’s local elections, I regularly speak to residents who tell me they no longer feel safe in their own neighbourhoods. I tell them that I’ll work with the police to identify crime hotspots and push for more visible, proactive patrols. But I can see it in their eyes—many just don’t believe it anymore.

They’ve lost faith. Faith in the police, whose resources are stretched far too thin—especially here in London. Faith in the state’s ability to keep them safe.

And without that faith, what are we really offering them? Reassurance without substance? Promises without power?

Now, I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But I do think it’s time we had an honest conversation about whether people should be allowed to defend themselves—non-lethally—when the state cannot.

Pepper spray has been illegal in the UK since the Firearms Act 1968.

It’s classed as a Section 5 weapon, in the same category as a handgun. But in a world where trust in institutions is waning, and where some vulnerable people feel utterly defenceless, isn’t it time to revisit that decision?

I’m not suggesting we abandon caution. There would need to be sensible restrictions—perhaps licensing, mandatory training, and tight controls on misuse.

But for the peace of mind it could offer ordinary people? For the simple dignity of feeling safe on your own street? I think it’s at least worth talking about.

Because while we should still be proud of our tough stance on guns, it’s no longer enough to simply say, “Well, at least we’re not America.”

We owe people more than that. We owe them a serious debate, grounded in reality, about how we give them back a sense of safety.

And if that means asking hard questions about policies that have gone unchallenged for decades—then so be it.

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Harry Todd is a Conservative Party Member and Agent. He has stood for Council and was on the approved Conservative Parliamentary Candidates list.

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