Almost half of recorded knife crime incidents have taken place in Labour-run areas, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures have revealed..
London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester – all of which have Labour Mayors – make up around 45.3 per cent of the total knife-related offences recorded in the year leading up to last September.
Police forces across the three regions have reported 24,940 knife-related offences out of England and Wales’ overall total of 55,008 incidents.
In Andy Burnham’s Greater Manchester, police recorded 3,427 offences involving a knife or a sharp instrument, while West Midlands noted 4,930 incidents, which has been run by Richard Parker since May 6.
Sadiq Khan’s London accounted for the most offences, with 16,583 knife crimes reported across the same timeframe.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and London mayor Sadiq Khan, along with other Labour mayors, visited Downing Street last year
PA
In response to statistics recorded in the capital, City Hall Conservatives’ crime spokeswoman Susan Hall said: “Today’s figures bring shame on the Labour politicians and bureaucrats at City Hall who have presided over this crimewave that is destroying our city.
“I will continue to oppose Khan’s misguided budget that seeks to cut the Met Police by 1,300 officers until I am blue in the face because I know that this will only make things worse.
“Labour’s refusal to get to grips with this problem – to back our officers, to back stop and search, to come down on offenders – is shattering lives in London. It cannot continue.”
Hall’s damning criticism of Khan has followed the London Mayor’s announcement earlier this month that residents will have to endure another council tax increase “to fill financial gaps” in the Met Police’s budget.
The tax hike is expected to raise a further £54million to increase the number of neighbourhood officers on the city’s streets.
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Earlier today, Yvette Cooper’s adviser Danny Shaw said that the Crime Survey of England and Wales “is regarded as the most reliable indicator of crime trends”, explaining that the rate of recorded knife-related offences had finally returned to pre-pandemic levels.
He said: “There were 55,008 offences in the year to the end of September 2024, compared to 55,170 offences in the 12 months to the end of March 2020.”
However, the decrease has not minimised the impact felt by victims as stabbings persist on the nation’s streets. A 15-year-old boy sustained “potentially life changing” injuries after a stabbing in Kingston upon Thames on Wednesday.
Last week, 12-year-old Leo Ross died in hospital after he suffered stab wounds to his stomach in Birmingham, while a nurse was stabbed in a separate incident at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Greater Manchester just a fortnight ago.
Labour will consider a ban on kitchen knives to crackdown on knife violence after actor and campaigner Idris Elba, 52, demanded “innovative” change
PA
Following the publication of ONS’ latest crime statistics, a spokesman for the Mayor of London said: “Today’s ONS figures show that the violent crime rate in London again remains lower than the average for the rest of the country and fewer offences have been recorded over the last 12-month period.
“This builds on the progress that the Mayor has achieved in London with the number of young people being injured with knives, homicides, gun crime lethal barrel discharges, and burglary all down since 2016.
“Recorded rates of theft, shoplifting and robbery have increased nationally, fuelled by the cost-of-living crisis – while policing continues to feel the impact of a decade of damaging real-terms cuts by the previous Government.”
In an attempt to crackdown on knife violence, Labour will consider a ban on kitchen knives after actor and campaigner Idris Elba, 52, demanded “innovative” change.
The actor claimed that last year’s ban on zombie knives and machetes was not sufficient in tackling the accessibility of such weapons and has now suggested that domestic knives should be rounded.
GB News has approached the Home Office, the Labour Party and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and West Midlands Combined Authority for comment.
