Sadiq Khan defends his record as violent crime in London spirals: 'We have done nothing wrong'

Mr Khan insisted things would be worse if it were not for his initiatives
LBC
Martin Coulter10 May 2018

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said he does not believe he has done anything wrong in the battle against violent crime in the capital.

Despite criticism of his response to an upsurge of serious gun and knife attacks in London, Mr Khan insisted things would be worse if it were not for his initiatives.

Asked what he had done wrong in dealing with the situation, the mayor told LBC: "I don't think we have done anything wrong in London.

"Nor do I think, by the way, the police and crime commissioners across the country have done much wrong."

The Metropolitan Police have recorded 62 murders so far this year, of which 39 involved knives and 10 guns.

In the first three months of this year 45 murders were recorded, compared with the first quarter of 2017 when there were 23.

London Murder investigations 2018

1/10

The mayor defended his record, saying: "I think things would be worse if we didn't invest the new money we invested in this year and last year."

Accepting responsibility for policing in the capital, Mr Khan said all sectors of society needed to work together to tackle serious violent crime.

He said: "We should not excuse or tolerate serious violent crime.

"We should not think that it's OK for there just to be one stabbing rather than three.

"We have got to make sure we stop young people thinking it's OK to carry a knife, or that that gives them a sense of belonging or respect.

"That means investing in young people. I'm determined to do what I can to invest in prevention and also in enforcement."

Tory MP, and party vice chairman for London, Paul Scully said: "Sadiq Khan needs to take action on violent crime for the safety of Londoners.

"As the Mayor of London he has direct responsibility - and the powers - to tackle violent crime in our city, and shifting the blame will not save the lives that are tragically being lost on the capital's streets."

Additional reporting by the Press Association

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in