Sadiq Khan demands urgent government action on causes of crime
Sadiq Khan has demanded a “national strategy to tackle the complex causes of crime”, while highlighting data on the link between the cost of living and a rise in certain offences across London.
In a speech on Thursday morning, the mayor pointed to modelling from the London School of Economics (LSE) showing that a 10% rise in Londoners’ living costs is accompanied by an eight per cent overall increase in violence, robberies, shoplifting, burglary and theft.
The mayor said that government austerity is jeopardising progress made in tackling crime and violence in London, and that there must be a renewed national focus on the causes of crime.
In a speech on Thursday morning, the mayor pointed to modelling from the London School of Economics (LSE) showing that a 10% rise in Londoners’ living costs is accompanied by an eight per cent overall increase in violence, robberies, shoplifting, burglary and theft.
The mayor said that government austerity is jeopardising progress made in tackling crime and violence in London, and that there must be a renewed national focus on the causes of crime.
Transcript
00:00 The research from the LSE confirms there's a close link between the increase in the cost of living crisis and the increase in crime.
00:08 What they found was the cost of living crisis increased by 10%, the cost of living increased by 10%, and crime went up by 8%.
00:16 And by crime they mean the sort of violent crimes, like the acquisitive crimes, like robbery, burglary, theft and shoplifting.
00:23 And so it confirms what we've been saying for some time.
00:26 Yes, we've got to be tough on crime, and that's why we've invested from City Hall in 1,300 more police officers at a time when the government's been cutting our police.
00:33 But also we've been invested in the complex causes of crime by investing in youth clubs and youth workers and the sort of young people you heard from today.
00:41 And we've seen the progress that's made.
00:43 So since the country's first VRU was set up in London, we've seen a reduction in homicides, a reduction in gun crime, a reduction in young people injured with a knife, a reduction in robbery, a reduction in burglary.
00:54 And the ONS's own figures say you're least likely to be a victim of violent crime in London than in other parts of the country.
01:01 It's still too high though.
01:02 And that's why my speech today was about the things we've got to do working with the government, a national solution to address these issues.
01:08 That means the government working with us to tackle the complex causes of crime, to invest in the justice system, but also to support victims.
01:16 I worry the evidence from the last eight years is that this government is not willing to do so.
01:20 So what I'm hoping is later on this year, we'll have a new Home Secretary, a new Prime Minister working in unison with me, the Mayor.