Violence is everywhere in crime-ridden London. Sadiq Khan is to blame

Sadiq Khan has failed to crack down on violent crime – Jordan Pettitt/PA

This week, a graphic video of a violent stabbing on a London train was widely shared on social media. The contents were horrific, but few who live in this city could have been surprised. As passengers watched on, the stabbing was committed in broad daylight, on public transport with CCTV. Such brazenness represents the tragic normalisation of extreme violence in the nation’s capital under Sadiq Khan.

I feel no shame in criticising the mayor for our collective desensitisation to violent acts and the weapons used to commit them. The responsibility is ultimately his. He is London’s Police and Crime Commissioner. He is the man who oversees much of the Met’s multi-billion pound budget. And he is the politician who, during his initial election campaign, actively opposed stop and search and promised to do everything to cut it, sending a signal to those carrying weapons that they’d face less scrutiny on the streets.

But others need to think again, too. For example, the Met’s use of social media to showcase the dangerous weapons they have seized – often large knives – has inadvertently fuelled the problem and idolised these weapons amongst those young Londoners from poorer areas most likely to fall into street violence.

As a black man, I am always asked how I can be pro-police, in favour of stop and search, and supportive of ways to crack down on crime over a “soft engagement” approach. Having been a youth worker myself, I know that community work is important – nobody doubts that. More work also evidently needs to be done to restore trust between the police and the public – something Sadiq Khan has consistently failed to do over the last eight years.

But more, better policing is the answer to this problem. For we cannot pretend that a soft approach alone is going to stop the stabbings. We need our police officers to be tough, authoritative and respected.

They face an ever-evolving challenge. In the past, gang crime was often confined to certain areas claimed by rival groups. This was just as tragic, but it isolated the violence. One could, with the right knowledge, avoid the areas where gangs were present. Now, however, it seems that the threat has spread right across London. Lone wolves commit offences independently of gangs, armed with the confidence that they are unlikely to be caught.

The idea that London’s streets are lawless and under-policed only helps to fuel crime further, creating a vicious cycle of violence that is killing young men – often black men. It is not helped by the proliferation of facial coverings in the post-Covid era, which is being abused by criminals eager to hide their identity.

We must change this new expectation, but I have little faith it will happen under the current mayor. To showcase just one example of his mismanagement, the number of staff receiving over £100,000 in his office for policing and crime has increased from 80 to 301. Would it not be an improvement if such funds were redirected to funding more bobbies on the beat? Nor can it be right that he has focused so much attention on criticising the Met, urging its commissioner to accept its “institutional bias”. Such games are a distraction, while knives linger on our streets.

It is absolutely clear that Sadiq Khan has failed to keep Londoners safe, and that we need a tougher new approach on knife crime and preventing gang violence with a new mayor. Failing to do so will only fuel crime further and normalise the kind of shocking incident we saw two days ago.

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