London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was responsible for the surge in violence on the capital’s streets – before blaming government cuts for the problem.
The mayor, who also acts as the city’s Police and Crime Commissioner, was quizzed by Londoners on an LBC radio call in today.
He was accused of being unclear over the issue of spiralling violence in the city as appeared to accept and reject responsibility for the crime wave.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan accepted he bears responsibility for the crime wave hitting London
Mr Khan said: ‘I’m the Mayor of London, I’m the Police and Crime Commissioner. I accept responsibility for what happens in our city.
‘Security is the biggest concern I have. It’s the one thing that keeps me up at night. Whether it’s terrorism threats or the surge in serious violent crime.
‘But I’m not going to apologise for explaining the context. We’ve seen across the country an increase in serious violence crime.’
But he went on to blame government cuts for reduced funds for police, saying: ‘All of us except for the Government accept there’s a link between cutting resources and serious violent crime.’
Radio host James O’Brien accused Mr Khan of ‘accepting responsibility and not accepting responsibility’, adding: ‘Decent Londoners are looking for leadership’.
Mr Khan replied: ‘We can dance around the question of how much responsibility is mine as opposed to the Government’s – we’re doing what we can.’
The Labour mayor came under pressure as he was quizzed by Londoners on LBC this morning
Mr Khan he wanted to see an extra 6,000 police officers added to the 30,000 the Met already has.
He said: ‘New York has a smaller population than us, but they have 36,000 police officers, but 8,000 additional staff.
‘36,000 would be the ideal scenario, but any increase from the government would be welcome.’
The carnage of London’s streets continued last night when a teenager, a man and a woman was hospitalised by shootings in Brixton.
Police said the teenage boy has suffered ‘life-threatening’ injuries and is in a serious condition in hospital. The man and woman sustained non-serious pellet injuries.
Last week, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the Government’s austerity drive was among the reasons for spiralling bloodshed in London.