He told the annual conference of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers in Brighton that every teacher had a right to feel safe in their school. As a result, Labour would raise the age limit for buying knives to 18 and allow head teachers the right to stop and search pupils for knives.

Repeating a pledge made in the mini-manifesto launched this month, Mr Twigg said that the Government would also pledge to introduce a violent crime reduction Bill to give police and local communities the powers they need to tackle knives, guns and alcohol- related violence.

“Knives have no place in our schools or on our streets,” he said. “I know this is an issue close to NASUWT’s heart and I congratulate you all on the leadership role you have taken in this area. Your campaign over the past year has been a driving force to bring about action in this area.”

Since the murder of Luke Walmsley by another pupil with a knife at the Birkbeck community college in North Somercotes, Lincolnshire, in November 2003, the union has called on the Government to supply airport-style security. But a spokesman for the Home Office said yesterday that there were no plans to introduce extra funding for such measures, but that the Government was convinced that strengthening the law to ban the sales of certain knives, giving police powers to search for knives in pubs and clubs, and bringing in tougher laws for knife offences would help to reduce crime.

Chris Keates, the general secretary of the NASUWT, welcomed the announcement for action on knife crime. She said that school discipline was “absolutely fundamental” to the working lives of teachers and to the educational progress of the vast majority of pupils.

“Stephen Twigg’s statements this morning were some of the toughest I have heard from this Government in terms of discipline,” she said. “That has to be good.”

The Conservatives, determined not to be outdone over cracking down on violence, will announce today that they will reclassify assaults on teachers as “aggravated offences”, similar to attacks on police officers.

Addressing the conference, Tim Collins, the Shadow Education Secretary, will outline a new teacher protection Bill designed to give the teaching profession maximum support.

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