Eddie Mair Grills Sadiq Khan's Deputy Over London Knife Crime Crisis
4 March 2019, 17:08 | Updated: 4 March 2019, 17:12
The Deputy Mayor of London for Policing and Crime was on the receiving end of an Eddie Mair grilling following another weekend of knife violence in the capital.
The latest London stab victim was 17-year-old Jodie Chesney who was murdered in a Harold Hill park on Friday night.
No arrests have yet been made with police searching for two suspects.
Sophie Linden told LBC Sadiq Khan was “leading from the front” in tackling violence in the capital - but had been “hamstrung” by government cuts.
Eddie replied: “Isn’t he on holiday at the moment?”
The Mayor’s deputy responded: “He’s not in the office at the moment, he has taken a short break but I can tell you he has absolutely got a grip of what’s going on in London”.
Meanwhile, Theresa May has rejected claims that falling police numbers are linked to a rise in knife crime.
Speaking on Monday, she said: "If you look at the figures, you'll see that there's no correlation between certain crimes and police numbers.”
Home Secretary Sajid Javid will chair a second chief constables' round table on Wednesday, which is aimed at sharing experience and policing strategies for tackling violent crime.
Watch Eddie Mair’s interview with the Deputy Mayor of London for Policing and Crime above.
