JETSET SADIQ
Sadiq Khan flies back from his holiday to blame the Government for London knife crime epidemic on his watch
The London Mayor insisted he's not responsible for the upsurge in knife crime
SADIQ Khan today jetted back to London after a holiday in Morocco - and blamed the knife crime crisis on Theresa May.
The Mayor accused the PM of "crocodile tears" over the epidemic of stab attacks sweeping Britain.
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He again refused to accept responsibility for overseeing a rise in the number of young people knifed to death in the capital.
Mr Khan was slammed by critics for heading on a minibreak to Marrakech with his wife while public anger over knife crime rages.
He dismissed the criticism today, telling Channel 5 News: "I was out of the office for one day."
And the Mayor pinned the blame for the knife crisis - which has seen 20 people killed in London so far this year - on Government spending cuts.
He told Sky News: "We've lost thousands of police officers, thousands of community support officers.
"For the Prime Minister and Home Secretary to now cry crocodile tears is no consolation, we need rapid investment now."
Mr Khan added: "Of course there's a link between the number of police officers and crime going up, the Home Office themselves accept this.
"Of course there's a link between youth centres having massive cuts, mental health services having massive cuts, schools having massive cuts, children's services having massive cuts and young people having less constructive things to do.
"I'm not excusing criminality but there are complex reasons why violent crime has gone up, there are deep-seated social problems."
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Mrs May sparked a row yesterday when she claimed there's no direct link between police funding cuts and the increase in violent crime.
Today Scotland Yard boss Cressida Dick insisted the falling number of cops is responsible for the crime surge.
Over the weekend two 17-year-olds, Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, were stabbed to death in separate horrific incidents.
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Met Police boss Cressida Dick insists she's doing all she can to fight violent knife crime
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