Actor Idris Elba takes action against the scourge of knife attacks in the UK

Comedian Idris Elba, seen in particular in the series “The Wire” and “Luther”, tackles an important subject in the United Kingdom: knife attacks. In one year, 247 people were killed in this way.

In London this week, Idris Elba went with victims’ relatives to Parliament for a striking demonstration. On Parliament Square, the lawn next to the House of Commons, the victims’ clothes were lined up in a row to give an idea of ​​the scale of the phenomenon.

Assaults, fights, score-settling… Knives are regularly used in the streets of the country. Young adults, high school students and even college students, the victims are young. And the weapons are often the same: machetes or “zombie knives”, long ornate blades. On the BBC, Idris Elba demands radical measures: “How does the perpetrator get his gun ? A victim’s mother told me that it was the Post Office that delivered the knife to the person who killed her son. The post office ! Banning zombie knives and machetes won’t solve the problem but symbolically it would show that we’re fed up and want it to stop.”

Since 2016, the sale of these knives has normally been prohibited. But there are loopholes and they can be easily ordered online. Last summer, the Prime Minister promised a new law, but it has still not been enacted.

A song and a clip to get the message across

Idris Elba’s commitment is not new: he was already involved in a movement to help working-class neighborhoods, and this campaign is part of it. It’s called “Don’t stop your future” which could be translated as “Don’t stop your future”. It is therefore clearly aimed at young people.

The actor even gives voice this time: he sings, to spread his message, a song titled Knives down (Put down the knives), all profits from which will be donated to associations. In the clip, the actor appears in what looks like the House of Commons, facing MPs whom he considers inactive.

There is even a clothing line to accompany this campaign, again the money must only serve this cause.