Sadiq Khan pledges 1,300 more police officers on London's streets if re-elected
27 March 2024, 06:00 | Updated: 27 March 2024, 06:04
Sadiq Khan has vowed to recruit 1,300 new neighbourhood police officers, PCSOs and special constables on the streets of London if re-elected.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
It's the latest pledge by Labour ahead of London's Mayoral elections, as Sadiq took to the streets of Wandsworth with the Met alongside Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
However, the Shadow Home Secretary was unable to guarantee Labour would put more police officers on London's streets if Sadiq Khan, or the party, lose the elections.
Labelling a Labour government and Labour mayor working hand-in-hand as an "incredibly exciting" opportunity, Khan told LBC's Charlotte Lynch the event has "only happened once before in London's history".
The Mayor labelled it a "moment of maximum possibility".
After more than a decade of Tory neglect, a return to proper neighbourhood policing will be at the heart of my third term if I am re-elected," he pledged.
"Instead of me having to row against the tide of a Tory government and their cuts, I could have the winds of a Labour government behind me," Sadiq said on Tuesday.
Labelling the last 14 years "terribly unfair", Khan noted that £1 billion has been "cut from the Met Police budget" during that time, reducing the force by thousands.
It comes ahead of the London Mayoral Election which is set to take place on May 2.
A major boost to neighbourhood policing, the Mayor the pledge would align with a key recommendation handed down by Baroness Casey’s landmark review into the Met Police.
Read more: Rishi Sunak facts: Height, wife, children and policies revealed
The London Mayor said that City Hall had tried to "fill the massive hole" left by the Conservative government, he said that City Hall had funded 500 more PCO's despite this void.
"I can't keep on filling this hole," admitted Sadiq. "Morale is low, public confidence is low - and that's why this year is potentially incredibly exciting.
Since 2016, City Hall's funding of the Met has doubled - a total that includes an additional £151 million in this year’s budget for policing and crime prevention.
It follows the Mayor's Women Safety Audits, in a bid to involve women and girls in decision-making around community safety.
The full list of candidates running to be Mayor of London.
