Sadiq Khan has failed to stop this epidemic of knife crime
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The death of a 14 year old boy in Hainault, east London is a tragic reminder of the real, legitimate fears that Londoners have about the safety of our streets. A suburban area on the edge of the city bordering Essex, local residents and the wider community will undoubtedly still be feeling a huge sense of shock and concern following this week’s events.
Every Londoner will feel appalled by this senseless attack, and my thoughts are with this young man’s family. The tragedy that they have experienced is difficult for any of us to begin to imagine, and the awful pain that they are suffering is being felt by a growing number of families losing young people to knife crime.
Doorbell camera footage showing the terrifying moment the attacker was arrested is a testament to the bravery of those police officers who put their lives on the line to keep us safe. Having seen two colleagues already attacked, suffering what we now know to be life-changing injuries, an officer courageously moves towards the machete wielding suspect to taser them, bringing this appalling attack to a close.
Nobody doubts there are areas in which the Met can improve, but the dedication and bravery of these officers to put themselves in harm’s way during life threatening situations is second to none. This is well worth remembering.
In an exchange now widely shared on social media, the Conservative Candidate for Mayor of London and my colleague Susan Hall raised the prevalence of machetes on the streets during a debate with Sadiq Khan last week. In response, the Mayor smirked, remarked that the “Tory candidate should stop watching The Wire” and told her that “we are not living in Baltimore, USA in the noughties”.
Whilst Sadiq Khan evidently could not have predicted the tragic events which would follow, the exchange highlights the Mayor’s dismissive and ultimately flawed attitude to crime and policing. Having previously suggested he would “do everything in [his] power to cut stop and search”, its use has dropped significantly during Sadiq Khan’s time as Mayor and by 44% in the past two years alone.
The result is an epidemic of knife crime, violence and robbery on London’s streets. New figures show that knife crime has reached a record high, increasing by 20% in the last year alone. In Redbridge, the borough in which this horrific attack took place, the number of knife crimes is at its highest rate since 2018.
The Met themselves now recognise the drop in the use of stop and search as a fundamental mistake, with Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley suggesting in an interview yesterday morning that stop and search “does work”, and that the force will look to increase its use over coming months. When meeting the mothers of young men who have been tragically stabbed, Sir Mark says, they “always say why can’t the police do more stop and search?”.
The reality is that the police can, and should, be making far greater use of stop and search to take dangerous weapons off our streets. This should of course be done in the right way and for the right reasons, for the benefit of all communities – something Sadiq Khan has consistently failed to do.
Stop and search is as much about a deterrent as its use in practice – those who are tempted to carry a knife or weapon on our streets and in our communities must know that they will be stopped, they will be searched and they will be caught. This fear simply does not exist as it stands, with young men carrying an ever-growing selection of dangerous weapons and then using them.
The last time London had a Conservative Mayor, crime of all types fell and the homicide rate halved between 2007 and 2015. Today Londoners will make a choice at the ballot box – who do they want to run their city and its police force? Only one of two candidates will be Mayor of London after this election – Sadiq Khan or Susan Hall.
Susan has put a tough approach to tackling skyrocketing crime at the heart of her campaign, by supporting stop and search and by pledging fully-funded commitments to provide the Met with an extra £200 million, recruiting 1500 additional police officers, reintroducing borough-based policing, offering knife arches to the schools that want them and by providing officers with knife detecting devices.
The best way we can stop this escalating knife crime, violence and lawlessness in our city is by casting your vote for Susan Hall, and for your Conservative Assembly Member in the election.
Shaun Bailey is the former Conservative candidate for Mayor of London
