Conservative Candidate for Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has accused Ken Livingstone of misleading Londoners over crime levels following claims that crime is falling 6% a year.
Mr Johnson says the comments, which were made on LBC 97.3FM this morning, are contradicted by statistics drawn from Mayoral press releases show that over the past four years violent crime has risen in London.
Johnson’s campaign say that while other types of crime “may have fallen” but violent crime and robbery have been on the increase.
Mr Johnson said his rival was “completely out of touch with the realities of what is going on in the capital. The statistics show that violent crime as a whole is rising in London, yet he misleads Londoners with the figures he recites.”
“Unlike Ken Livingstone, I believe it is the Mayor’s job to take direct responsibility, which is why I have pledged to chair the Metropolitan Police Authority. I will provide the police with more hand-held scanners to tackle the guns and knives on our streets as advocated by former Met Commissioner Lord Stevens.”
“I will also use the weight of the Mayoral office to campaign against the bureaucracy and form-filling that keeps too many police from giving us the protection we deserve.
“My top priority is to make our streets and public transport safer. Londoners have the chance to vote for a fresh approach on May 1st.”
