Sadiq Khan has insisted that he is making progress over crime and that Londoners are 'less likely' to be attacked when compared to other areas of the country after six people were stabbed over the weekend. It comes as the Mayor of London announced £2 million for youth projects over the summer on Monday, July 29.
The cash funds 'a series of summer activities to tackle violence and provide a helping hand for thousands of young people', including sports and carpentry. On a visit to Goodmayes Park, MyLondon questioned the mayor on his record after 11 people were attacked in five days in the capital, including two 15-year-old boys who were shot and stabbed.
Six people were stabbed in the city over the weekend, leaving one man dead and another fighting for his life in hospital. Between the afternoon of Friday, July 26, and Sunday, July 28, five different stabbing incidents were reported across the city.
READ MORE: London stabbing spree marks bloody weekend of tragedy as 6 people knifed and 3 die
A man was attacked, beaten and robbed near a London Overground station in East London on Sunday night (July 28). A man was stabbed in Mile End leaving him with life-changing injuries and found in the early hours of this morning.
MyLondon asked the mayor when this was going to change. Mr Khan said: "It's heartbreaking and horrifying when you see anybody who's a victim of crime, particularly people who lose their lives, and when you discover those who lost their lives are children, and those responsible are children as well, that compounds the anger and the heartbreak."
'Londoners know we've invested in young people'
The mayor added: "Londoners know, from the last 14 years, the consequences of cuts in youth clubs, policing, NHS, education and other public services. But also they know that within the last eight years, notwithstanding the central government cuts, we've invested in young people."
Mr Khan then said what he has told MyLondon before - that he believes crime is 'not inevitable but preventable', and that he is taking a 'public health approach', being 'tough on crime' and tackling the 'complex causes of crime'. The City Hall chief then claimed that, despite the capital's population increasing by more than a million and an increase in violence across the country, over his mayoralty, homicides are down in London, knife injuries of those under 25 are down, gun crime is down and burglary is down. "It's still too high, though," he added.
He said: "I suspect one of the reasons Londoners voted for change on July 4 and voted for me on May 2 is because they're fed up with central government, and what you'll see going forward is central government and a mayor working together. It's very difficult, though, because we've had 14 years of austerity."
'People less likely to be a victim of violence in London'
Mr Khan then stated that, according to the Office for National Statistics, you are 'less likely to be a victim of violence in London than the rest of the country'. The same goes, he added, for being 'a victim of violence and being injured'.
MyLondon also asked the mayor specifically about crossbows, as there have recently been a number of violent incidents involving them in the capital. In March, a man was arrested after two people were left injured after a series of crossbow attacks.
In the same month, a man was rushed to hospital after being shot in the neck by a crossbow. Bryce Hodgson, 30, was killed after trying to force entry into a house at Bywater Place, Surrey Quays, Southwark, armed with weapons and tools - including three crossbows - at around 5am on January 30 this year.
On potential legislation, Mr Khan said he hopes it will have a 'comprehensive ban' on some of these things. "What is the justification," he added, "of having a machete? What's the justification for having a zombie knife? How would you justify walking around with a crossbow? And so we do need to make sure we close down any loopholes that currently exist."
Asked if he wanted crossbows banned outright, the mayor said: "Well, we know that there are some weapons that may be used in other parts of the world, I suspect if you live in the Amazon jungle, a machete may be useful. I'm not sure what use it has in London."
Security minister Dan Jarvis said that crossbow laws need to be 'urgently examined', after the wife of BBC 5 Live racing commentator John Hunt and two of their daughters were killed in Bushey, Hertfordshire, earlier this month.
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