Earlier today at business questions, Andrew Rosindell M.P. urged the Leader of the House to allocate time in the House to debate the ongoing rise of crime in Greater London under the watch of the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
This follows a stabbing which took place at the Romford brewery recently and a spring of similar attacks across 'Greater London.'
The Leader of the House should know that there has been a shocking increase in crime in Greater London. In my own borough of Havering there was recently a stabbing in the Brewery shopping centre. Local people are afraid to go into the town centre, particularly in the evenings. Under Mayor Khan, we have seen a massive increase in crime. We do not get the police cover that we need. Being on the outskirts of Greater London, and traditionally a part of Essex, we are treated very differently. Will she bring forward a debate in Government time to discuss crime across Greater London, particularly in areas such as Romford and Havering, which are being fleeced? We are paying for police cover that we are not getting.
Andrew Rosindell M.P., Member of Parliament for Romford
My hon. Friend raises an important matter. Across the country as a whole, the police have done an amazing job on roughly the same resource—if we strip out online fraud, they have halved crime, which is a huge achievement. However, there are parts of the country where that is not happening. He mentions London, but the west midlands is another such area. I know that west midlands Mayor Andy Street is very concerned about this matter. Every time we hear about the Met, the Mayor of London is nowhere to be seen. The budget has been mismanaged—there is an enormous black hole in it—and police officers in London do not feel that they are supported in doing their difficult job. The rise in violent crime in particular—knife and other crime—is shocking. There is an imminent solution so that Londoners can get a better deal: vote the current London Mayor out of office.
The Rt Hon. Penny Mordaunt M.P., Leader of the House of Commons, Lord President of the Council
