The Home Secretary James Cleverly has criticised the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan over his “failure” to “take violent crime in London seriously enough.”
A father of a Nottingham stabbing victim warned that knife crime is “out of control in our country” which come just 24 hours after a man killed a 14-year old school boy with a sword and seriously injured a heroic police woman.
The Home Secretary told The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots show, “I’ve publicly been critical of what I believe to be a failure of the Mayor to take violent crime in London seriously enough.
“I think comments like that betray our willingness to be really honest about the increase in knife crime in London.”
Cleverly added, “This is something that I’ve raised with him directly and hearing those comments, as I say, in my mind, reinforce the fact that he is not focusing on the things that he as Mayor of London, as the Police and Crime Commissioner for London should be concentrating on.”
The Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has also criticised the Mayor of London over his record on crime, as London has become the knife crime capital.
Badenoch told LBC on Wednesday: “Just a few days ago he was on LBC laughing at the Conservative candidate Susan Hall talking about machete wielding in London.
“I don’t think he takes it seriously. He is responsible for enforcement.”
Last week the Mayor played down fears during the Mayoral hustings that gangs are “running around with machetes” in London, when rival Susan Hall challenged Khan on this subject.
Khan told Hall to “stop watching The Wite, we’re not living in Baltimore, USA, in the noughties.”
A spokesman for Khan accused the Business Secretary of “seeking to politicise the awful murder of a child.”
Grace O’Malley-Kumar who was a stabbing victim in Nottingham, her father Dr Sanjoy Kumar told The Telegraph, “Knife crime is out of control in our country and the government is lagging behind in legislation.
“Whilst there is a lot going on world-wide, fixing problems at home in the UK should be an urgent priority to keep our public, especially children, safe.”
Badenoch was asked if there should be tougher laws to tackle knife crime, she told LBC, “We have cracked down numerous times. People keep finding ways to get around them, so there might be more that we can do from a legislative side but I’m one of those people who thinks that bans can only go so far.
“Murder is banned and people are still killing, so enforcement is what we need to focus on.”
A spokesman for Khan said, “It’s quite extraordinary that the Tories are seeking to politicise the awful murder of a child. They have lost all direction and all sense of decency.
“Meanwhile, Sadiq is remaining in constant contact with London’s emergency services about yesterday’s tragic events.
“His priorities remain securing more funding for the police, and tackling the causes of crime by investing in young people.”
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