Sadiq Khan’s ego is more important to him than tackling rising crime

Khan is more concerned with his ego than his city (Image: Getty) This week the Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire wrote a critical letter to Sadiq Khan. It states that the Met was the only police force to not meet its government-funded uplift target, being 1,089 officers short of its allocation of 4,557 officers in March. The letter gets worse, stating that the current shortfall is now 1,800 and is set to grow to more than 2,000. What action has the current Mayor pledged to take to address this issue?  The answer is very little – we got a generic press statement blaming others.  When Sadiq Khan blames others, it is like a child with a comfort blanket.  It makes him feel safe; safe from his responsibilities as Mayor; safe from his failure to deliver as Police and Crime Commissioner for London; and safe from actually doing the work that he is paid for. We have a Mayor who is more interested in visiting a cannabis shop in the US and flogging his book.  Maybe this is a good thing because when he does get involved, he often becomes part of the problem. The King meets Sadiq Khan (Image: Yui Mok – Pool/Getty ) For years he has blamed the government for insufficient funding, something that he still does despite his failure to spend the money allocated to him.  Many of the cuts to the police were his choice.  Boris maintained a budget for at least 32,000 officers despite decreases in funding.  Khan has never had to set a budget with any reductions in Government funding to the police.  The Conservatives at City Hall consistently showed him how to increase police officer numbers. He had choices, but he chose to spend money elsewhere, such as on a massive expansion of staff at City Hall. In June, the crimes committed in the previous year surpassed one million. Knife crime is up 20 percent, robbery is up 20 percent, gun crime is up 19 percent, and theft from a person is up 25 percent. We have under-resourced BCUs who cover local policing.  Many have staff on paper, but they may be redeployed, on sick leave or suspended. Even units such as firearms are not immune. Since 2019-2020 the number of Authorised Firearms Officers has fallen from 2,864 to 2,595, a fall of 9 percent. There are two main factors that are making it harder to recruit police in London. Khan does have some fans (Image: Jack Hall/Getty) Firstly, there is a more competitive job market.  There are more employment opportunities with good pay than elsewhere, meaning people considering joining the police may find themselves more attracted to another role.  The pay for police officers in London reflects this, offering them more money. Unlike many of the nine-to-five roles which are located in central London, police can be based throughout the capital.  These locations can take longer to get to by public transport and can involve going into central London and back out again.  Some opt to drive instead, but this means buying a new car every time the Mayor moves the goalposts on ULEZ or paying the daily charge.  Police who work shifts may pay twice for a single day’s work; starting one day and finishing their shift the next can be quite expensive. The Met has also twice brought in a policy of banning non-Londoners from becoming police recruits, and twice reversed it.  Had this policy not been in place, we might be in a better place today.  If a talented person wants to join the Met and meets all the criteria, we should be welcoming them, regardless of where they live. The reputation of the Met has taken a hit after recent scandals, but the Mayor often makes this worse.  He comments on incidents before they have been investigated or all the facts revealed. He almost seems gleeful when criticising police officers.  This is the man who tried to have officers fired when they had no case to answer after an investigation into their conduct. Why would anyone want to work for an organisation when the man at the top seems to hate those on the ground?  Sadiq Khan won his legal challenge over Ulez (Image: Carl Court/Getty) We should imagine how the police feel. They face life and death situations and have to make split-second calls, only to realise that a politician can use them to boost his own ego. I support those officers who do a good job and let due process take place when a complaint is made. I believe the Met needs to get the full story out when clipped videos show what appears to be a bad situation, but lack the preceding minutes building up to it. I encourage officers to enforce the law and keep us all safe. Above all, however, we need a Mayor who genuinely wants to lead the police and fix the problems in the Met.  Sadiq Khan, sadly, doesn’t seem to care.