Mayoral candidates clash over violent crime
By Oliver Hotham
The contest to be mayor of London heated up today as the candidates shifted their focus towards crime.
The Ken4London campaign today announced its support for the 'City Safe Havens' scheme, which attempts to give local communities more control over tackling youth crime, as incumbent Conservative Boris Johnson released his 2012 crime manifesto.
Mr Johnson is defending his record as mayor, citing his accomplishments in reducing knife crime and improving safety on public transport. He also declared his ambition to "make London one of the safest big cities on earth."
Labour candidate Ken Livingstone responded by reiterating its criticism that Mr Johnson's police cuts were making Londoners less safe.
Mr Livingstone also claimed that "Boris Johnson has tried repeatedly to mislead Londoners – claiming knife crime is falling, when the Metropolitan police say knife crime is rising."
The BackBoris campaign responded to Mr Livingstone's criticism, accusing him of "ignoring" crime when he was in office and "washing his hands of the problem".
It argued that Mr Livingstone's disinterest with the issue of knife crime led to knife crime statistics only beginning to be recorded in 2008.
Liberal Democrat candidate, former Met Police officer Brian Paddick, attacked both of his opponents, saying both were rehashing old ideas.
He criticised Mr Livingstone's support for the 'City Safe Havens' scheme, saying it had been tried and been unsuccessful.
Mr Paddick cited the problem of knife crime as being a failure of communication:
"It has proved almost impossible to get people in to school to talk about knife crime as head teachers see it as an admission they have a problem," he said.
According to the Metropolitan police, knife crime in London has risen by 16% in the last three years.
