London : Boris Johnson says knife crime is a ‘scandal’

Boris Johnson has said Sadiq Khan needs to take responsibility for knife crime in London.

He described it as a “scandal” that the murder rate in the city was higher than in New York earlier this year.

The former foreign secretary accused the Mayor of London of blaming “everyone but himself” for the rising levels of attacks in the capital.

Writing in the Telegraph he said: “It is tragic that so many young lives are again being lost on the pavements of our capital.

“But for my money there is a further outrage – and that is the abject failure of the Mayor of London either to grip the problem, or even to take responsibility.”

He added: “He [Mr Khan] blames everyone but himself, when it is his paramount duty to keep Londoners safe.”

Mr Johnson said stop and searches “make a difference” and that it was a “serious mistake” for the Home Office to move away from them in 2015.

He urged Mr Khan not to “berate” the police, but to “get behind” Scotland Yard. - PA