Idris Elba pushes UK for 'absolute ban' on zombie knives, machetes after spike in attacks

Actor Idris Elba is leading a campaign against knife crime in Britain, saying his country is “at a boiling point.” The “Luther” star launched his initiative on Monday with a demonstration outside Parliament in London, according to The Associated Press. “Zombie knives [and] machetes need to be banned,” Elba said in a Monday .

Zombie knives, which are often made with especially sharp and serrated blades, reportedly got their name from the types of weapons traditionally used in horror movies. Elba said that legislation to place an “absolute ban” on the weapons in Britain needs to be “pushed into priority.” “We all feel the pain when we see on the news, but there’s very little done that reverberates into actual action.

And so for me, there needs to be a consistent voice or a fixed point where we can point a finger and say, ‘Hey, let’s do something together,’” the 51 year old British performer said. The number of people killed with a knife in England and Wales in 2021 was the highest on record for 76 years, according last year from The Independent, citing the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics.

Asked what he would tell critics who might argue that police and politicians should handle combatting knife crime and entertainers should “stick to the script,” Elba replied, “It’s not about being an actor or a politician. We’re all human beings and we live in a society, and we all have the right to feel safe in that society.” “If I don’t feel safe, just because I’m an actor, should I not say that?” Elba said.

“I think we should all speak up when we should. And this is a moment where we should speak up.”.