Debate contribution: Crime and Policing Bill: Legislative Consent Motion
Debate contribution by Ms Connie Egan on .
- MLA
- Ms Connie Egan
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 16 March 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Crime and Policing Bill: Legislative Consent Motion
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5449014
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I support the third legislative consent motion that the Alliance Justice Minister, Naomi Long, has brought to the House on Westminster's Crime and Policing Bill. The LCM deals specifically with extending powers that strengthen age verification requirements for the online sale and delivery of knives and crossbows. I commend Minister Long and her departmental officials for moving as swiftly and flexibly as possible on this as a matter of public safety, particularly considering the already packed legislative programme ahead of us. Alliance welcomes the provisions, which clarify and solidify law relating to the need for a physical passport or driving licence as proof of age for the remote sale of a knife or for the remote sale or hire of a crossbow. The amendments also make provision for regulations to prescribe an alternative process for age verification and ensure that all contractors in the delivery chain are responsible for age and ID verification on the delivery of bladed products and crossbows to residential premises. It is a welcome step forward in tightening and regulating access to knives and sharp instruments across Northern Ireland. As noted in the PSNI's crime bulletin that was released just last month, there were 545 crimes involving a knife or sharp instrument between December 2024 and December 2025. Knives or other sharp instruments are recorded as having been used in seven cases of rape and sexual assault in the same period.
Realistically, that only scratches the surface of how frequently knives and sharp instruments are used to harm, intimidate and coerce in domestic settings. We must do all that we can to prevent that from happening, and increased age and identity verifications for knife and crossbow ownership could be a constructive step in that. I hope that all Members across the Chamber will join my party and me and pass the motion.
306 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.85).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.85 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.41 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.40 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.16 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.03 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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