Sadiq Khan treats policing like its optional. Londoners deserve better, writes Susan Hall

This isn't just about budgets and bureaucracy - it's about our police force being made to abandon those who need them most desperately because of the financial situation Labour has left them in.

For decades, the local police station has been a vital part of civic life. It has been a beacon of safety, a place where residents could walk in off the street and speak to an officer face-to-face. For our elderly residents, many of whom are not comfortable with online reporting systems or phone queues, the police station counter has been their lifeline to justice. For vulnerable people who have been victims of crime, it has provided a safe space to report incidents with dignity and human compassion.

What sort of a city will we be when, in the middle of a crime wave, you can no longer walk into a police station to report the crime you see?

This devastating proposal is the direct result of Sir Sadiq Khan and the Labour Government's systematic refusal to fund our police force properly. Despite repeated efforts by City Hall Conservatives to hold them accountable - and we went as far as to find the money to fund the service, and proposed this as an amendment that Labour voted down - both the Mayor and his puppet masters in Westminster have consistently turned their backs on London's safety needs. Khan talks endlessly about his commitment to reducing crime, yet when it comes to providing the basic infrastructure that allows residents to report crimes, he's nowhere to be found. His manifesto promised us 24/7 counters - another promise broken by Sir Sadiq.

The Metropolitan Police didn't wake up one morning and decide to make life harder for crime victims. They've been forced into this corner by politicians who would rather spend money on vanity projects than on the fundamental duty of keeping Londoners safe. Every closed counter represents a community cut off from its protectors, a neighbourhood made more isolated and vulnerable.

This is what happens when you have an anti-London Labour Party in charge - a party that views our capital not as a jewel to be protected, but as a cash cow for milking whilst essential services are stripped away. They've created a perfect storm: crime is rising, police resources are shrinking, and now they want to make it even harder for victims to seek help.

The human cost of this decision will be immense. Picture the elderly woman who has been repeatedly burgled trying to navigate a phone system that keeps her on hold for hours. Think of the small business owner who has had their shop windows smashed, standing outside a shuttered police station with nowhere to turn. Consider the vulnerable adult who needs to report a serious crime but cannot bring themselves to do so over the phone to a faceless voice.

These aren't statistics: they're our neighbours, our family members, our community. They deserve better than a Labour administration that treats policing as an optional extra rather than a core responsibility.

The Metropolitan Police have served London faithfully for nearly two centuries. They deserve political leaders who will fight for the resources they need, not politicians who force them to choose between keeping officers on the beat and keeping their doors open to the public.

City Hall Conservatives will continue to challenge this shameful decision at every turn. We will demand that the Mayor explain to Londoners why their safety matters less than his political priorities. We will hold both Khan and the Labour Government accountable for every crime that goes unreported because they made it too difficult for victims to come forward.

London deserves a police force that is accessible, visible, and properly funded. Instead, we're getting managed decline dressed up as modernisation. This isn't progress—it's abandonment.

The people of London are watching, and they won't forget come election time.

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Susan Hall AM is Leader of the City Hall Conservatives.

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