has been slammed after new figures out this morning revealed a huge spike in shoplifting and knife crime in the capital.
The National Survey, a reliable measure of the rates of crime, showed that shoplifting has soared 50% in London in the year to September 2024, with a whopping 80,041 offences recorded.
The Office for National Statistics highlighted the growing wave of theft as retailers warn levels are now “spiralling out of control”.
Knife crime in the capital is also up 18%, compared to just 4% across the country as a whole.
Total recorded crime in London also rose across the board, from 915,000 in 2023 to 952,400 in 2024.
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Sadiq Khan has been slammed over today’s figures (Image: Getty)
Robbery also rose, from 32,300 to 35,500 in the year. Sadiq Khan is now under fire for his role in the crime rise, with Reform UK’s Lee Anderson blasting the fact he received a knighthood despite presiding over the chaos.
He told the Express: “If the public had a choice, Khan would never have received such an honour. Britons overwhelmingly believe he has done everything possible to accelerate London’s decline, prioritising everyone except British natives.
“We have been betrayed by his leadership yet forced to endure his disastrous policies. Under Khan, shoplifting has risen by 50%, and knife crime is up 18%—yet we’re expected to celebrate him?
“He is a disgrace to this great city, to the people who built it, and to those who keep it running. He has given our beautiful capital city away and he should apologise to the whole of the country.”
Meanwhile The Conservative London Assembly crime spokesman Susan Hall said today’s figures “bring shame on the Labour politicians and bureaucrats at City Hall who have presided over this crimewave that is destroying our city.”
“I will continue to oppose Khan’s misguided budget that seeks to cut the Met Police by 1300 officers until I am blue in the face, because I know that this will only make things worse. Labour’s refusal to get to grips with this problem – to back our officers, to back stop and search, to come down on offenders – is shattering lives in London. It cannot continue.”
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Lee Anderson tore into Sir Sadiq Khan (Image: Getty)
Earlier this month the Express revealed that London’s police officer numbers are now set to plunge to their lowest level in six years.
Scotland Yard could be facing a loss of 2,300 officers, because of Labour’s “failure” to fund the Met Police “properly”.
Frontline bobbies have warned keeping people safe is “set to get harder” and declared the public “deserve better” from politicians.
Critics have also claimed it could take longer for police to respond to 999 calls, force chiefs to slash neighbourhood patrols and reduce the number of officers on “public order” operations.
The Met’s Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, previously warned the “eye-watering” cuts will make it harder for his force to catch criminals.
A spokesman for Sadiq Khan insisted: “Today’s ONS figures show that the violent crime rate in London again remains lower than the average for the rest of the country and fewer offences have been recorded over the last 12-month period.”
“This builds on the progress that the Mayor has achieved in London with the number of young people being injured with knives, homicides, gun crime lethal barrel discharges, and burglary all down since 2016.
“Recorded rates of theft, shoplifting and robbery have increased nationally, fuelled by the cost-of-living crisis – while policing continues to feel the impact of a decade of damaging real-terms cuts by the previous government.”