- Four people either stabbed or shot to death in London this week
- Sadiq Khan orders more police patrols and extra stop and search powers
- Tottenham MP reveals he’s had no contact with the PM or Home Secretary
- Walthamstow MP warns killings with continue without community support
MPs have reacted with fury and London Mayor Sadiq Khan with “heartbreak and anger” amid growing pressure on authorities to tackle a spate of violence in the capital that has seen four people killed on the streets this week.
Khan vowed that anyone caught with a knife would face “the full force of the law” and said the police were putting on extra patrols.
The mayor’s statement came after the Tottenham MP David Lammy hit out at Khan and Home Secretary Amber Rudd for not visiting crime-hit constituencies sooner, including his own, saying four young people have been killed in his borough of Haringey since Christmas.
Lammy tweeted that he was “sick of the political football”.
On Thursday, another man was stabbed in Walthamstow, where a 16-year-old was fatally shot on Monday.
Labour MP for Walthamstow Stella Creasy has written to Amber Rudd to “urgently request” extra support for local police and youth services, following the latest string of violence in the capital.
Creasy also called out Theresa May, who was campaigning in Waltham Forest today, for not listening to calls to tackle violent crime, and demanded an urgent investigation into how “firearms have become easily accessible to young children in our city.”
The former shadow minister for home affairs said she wanted police and youth workers to address the underlying causes of the attacks, but argued that governmental cuts had led to struggling support services which “help engage young residents in positive activities”.
She added: “I fear this shocking spate of incidents may continue without investment to support both police and youth service provision required to build relationships with the local community and younger residents to help disrupt these activities and encourage them to make positive life choices.”
Khan issued his statement on Thursday, saying: “I’m angered and heartbroken by the number of violent deaths on our streets this week – and this year.
“It’s been devastating to see lives – so many of them young lives – senselessly ended and more families left in despair.”
He added that 35 people have been charged with murder in 2018 so far and said anyone caught carrying a knife “will feel the full force of the law”.
He said more police patrols had been ordered and extra stop and search powers were in place.
Khan hit out at cuts to the Metropolitan Police’s budget, saying: “Already in the last seven years we have lost £700 million from the policing budget. Over the next three years the Government plans to cut another £300 million. That’s a billion pounds worth of cuts.
“So my message to the Government is please work with us to solve this national problem.”
He added: “12 of those who have lost their lives this year have been teenagers.
“As the father of two teenagers daughters I worry as a dad, and that’s why we have to make sure we grapple with this problem – but I can’t solve it by myself.”
Violent deaths in London since Monday:
Israel Ogunsola, 18, was stabbed on Wednesday on Link Street in Hackney. Despite police and paramedics’ efforts to save him, he died around half an hour later. Two 17-year-olds have been arrested on suspicions of his murder.
A 53-year-old, who has not yet been named, was found unconscious in a bookmakers in Clapton, Hackney on Wednesday and died at the scene. Police believe he had had an “altercation” there with someone else who then left.
Amaan Shakoor, 16, was shot on Monday in Walthamstow and died on Wednesday. His family said it was a case of “mistaken identity”.
Tanesha Melbourne, 17, was shot in a drive-by shooting in Tottenham on Monday