Sadiq Khan says Trump is ‘spreading misinformation’ over London crime claims
Mayor Sadiq Khan has dismissed Donald Trump’s claims that London is crime-ridden as ‘misinformation’.
The US President zeroed in on the Labour mayor during his 55-minute UN speech – saying he’d allowed crime to go ‘through the roof’.
But Khan has hit back, highlighting statistics from the mayor’s office for policing and crime showing a 12% fall in violent offences over the last two years.
Figures also show that since replacing Boris Johnson in 2016, Khan has overseen a 17% fall in the homicide rate.
Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said: ‘We’ve seen a number of politicians here and across the globe talking down London and spreading misinformation about crime and safety in the capital.
‘The evidence is clear, our approach to tackling crime and its complex causes works. It’s driving down violence right across the capital.’
Trump isn’t the only politician to have accused Khan of overseeing a crime wave in the capital.
Tory MP Robert Jenrick told Times Radio that young Londoners don’t feel that ‘London is a safe city they want to live in’.
Meanwhile, Susan Hall, Crime Spokeswoman for the City Hall Conservatives, has accused Khan of failing to fulfil Labour’s manifesto pledge to ‘take back the streets’.
The mayor’s office figures on violent crime compared the twelve months ending in August with the previous twelve months.
All 32 boroughs saw violent crime fall, with Havering’s 16.3% drop the biggest, followed by Enfield’s 16.1% reduction.
Greenwich saw the smallest decrease of 4.3%, followed by Kensington and Chelsea’s 4.6% fall.
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The homicide rate fall was calculated by comparing the twelve months to June this year with the twelve months to May 2016.
Overall homicides in London are at a ten-year low, according to the mayor’s office and better than Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Madrid and all major US cities.
Office for National Statistics data, also showed Londoners are less likely to be a victim of violent crime (26.4 offences per 1,000 population) than across the rest of England and Wales (31.9 offences per 1,000 population).
However, Susan Hall has previously pointed to figures that suggest certain types of crime are rising in the capital.
The Tory politician often highlights knife crime – with research from the Policy Exchange think tank showing that such offences have risen by nearly 60% in three years.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams said: ‘Violence with injury is down in every single borough – a clear sign that our approach is making a difference.
‘Homicide is now at its lowest level in a decade, violent crime resulting in injury has fallen and firearms discharges are less than half what they were seven years ago.’
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