The London Mayor has repeatedly blamed Government spending cuts for the spiralling levels of violent crime in the capital
SADIQ Khan has blamed the Government for knife crime TWENTY times since becoming Mayor of London, The Sun can reveal.
As violence has continued to increase the Mayor repeatedly says he can't solve the problem.
Instead he pins the blame on funding cuts and demands more cash time and time again.
Even in his manifesto before the 2016 mayoral election, Mr Khan attacked austerity, saying: "On the
Tories’ watch, there’s been a worrying rise in violent crime."
After he took over from Boris Johnson, the Labour politician saw a surge of fatal stabbings on his patch.
A Sun analysis of all his public statements in the media on violent crime reveals that he has kept up a long-running campaign to blame the Government for the problem.
He claimed in 2017: "London needs more resources to keep our city safe."
Last year, the Mayor insisted that complaining about cuts is a vital part of his job.
The Government continues to leave us high and dry by cutting public services
Sadiq Khan
He also described knife crime as a "national problem that requires national solutions from the Government" in April 2018 - despite London being more violent than any other region.
Mr Khan added in another interview: "The Government continues to leave us high and dry by cutting public services and refusing to invest properly in our police service."
After the knife crime epidemic took off again in recent days following the tragic deaths of two 17-year-olds, the Mayor returned to his campaign for more money.
Just today he said: "I've raised council tax three years in a row, but also used the money from business rates to invest in policing and youth services.
"The investment we are putting in doesn't fill the massive hole left by the Government."
Mr Khan has been blasted by critics for failing to take concrete measures to solve the capital's knife crime crisis.
Tory MP George Freeman said: "London is facing a street knife crime wave, which the Mayor Sadiq Khan has simply not gripped."
Chris Philp added: "Sadiq Khan is spending £25million a year extra on his PR team and other City Hall bureaucrats.
"If he had spent this on police instead, there would be 500 more on London's streets."
The Home Office has already made the Met find £600million of savings following cuts since 2010. Their plans to make the Met find a further £400million of savings on top of this over the next few years will have a big impact on policing in London.
June 2017
Without urgent government action, it is inevitable that in the next year a process of significant and sustained reduction in officer head count will have to begin.
August 2017
I'm not going to resile from what I've been saying over the last 16 months, which is that London needs more resources to keep our city safe.
September 2017
The police are being tough on crime, but the Government are being desperately weak on the causes of crime.
January 2018
The current Government is cutting investment in policing, criminal justice, public services, deprived communities and young people - making it harder to be tough on crime or the causes of crime.
January 2018
Government cuts have decimated services for young Londoners.
April 2018
I've got full confidence in the Met Police service but I'm not going to apologise for making the point of the context of the cuts over the last few years. One of the jobs of the Mayor is to be the champion and advocate of our city and that means standing up for the our city when we are facing mammoth cuts.
April 2018
These statistics show once again that crime, and violent crime in particular, is rising at an unacceptably high rate. This is clearly a national problem that requires national solutions from the Government.
April 2018
The Government is letting our young people down and failing in its basic duty to keep people safe.
May 2018
Security is the biggest concern I have. It's the one thing that keeps me up at night. Whether it's terrorism threats or the surge in serious violent crime. But I'm not going to apologise for explaining the context. We've seen across the country an increase in serious violent crime.
June 2018
I make no apologies for relentlessly pushing the Government to understand that cuts have consequences and that our police service desperately needs more funding right now... the Government continues to leave us high and dry by cutting public services and refusing to invest properly in our police service.
June 2018
It’s no coincidence that violent crime has steadily risen nationally within a few years of the 2010 election when investment reduced. Cuts really do have consequences.
July 2018
In London we’ve had a public health approach in the context of record cuts in policing and public services... But you’ll appreciate that because we have fewer officers than any time since 2003 at a time when our population is going up, it’s more and more difficult.
November 2018
The reality of government cuts means that the Met still has to make cuts of £263million by 2022-23.
December 2018
Sadly, we have to be clear that we will not solve the knife issue overnight. The violence is so complex and is further compounded by huge, decade-long government cuts to preventative and youth services.
December 2018
The causes of violent crime are extremely complex and involve deep-seated problems... made much worse by huge government cuts to the police and preventative services
January 2019
The cuts from the government to the Met police aren't sustainable. And I've been lobbying the government to reverse the cuts they've made over the last eight years
January 2019
Causes of violent crime are extremely complex, but it has been made far worse by cuts to police.
March 2019
I've raised council tax three years in a row, but also used the money from business rates to invest in policing and youth services. The investment we are putting in doesn't fill the massive hole left by the Government.
March 2019
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