How safe is London? Sadiq Khan's boast over record low homicide rate doesn't show the reality, opponents claim - as statistics reveal surge in crime residents face every day
Sir Sadiq Khan's claim that London is 'safer than ever' is based on 'cherry-picked' data that does not represent day-to-day reality in the capital, his opponents claim.
The Labour Mayor pointed to new figures this week revealing London's murder rate has fallen to its lowest level in decades and blasted critics for promoting 'untruths'.
Sir Sadiq insisted the Metropolitan Police data disproves suggestions from Donald Trump and other right-wing politicians that crime is out of control in London.
Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley also then accused 'pundits' of damaging the city's reputation and said 'people who live and work in London generally feel safe'.
But while declining murder rates are welcome, other data shows crime including shoplifting, phone snatching and sexual offences has all increased under Sir Sadiq's leadership.
Susan Hall, Conservative leader of the London Assembly, claimed Sir Sadiq 'has chosen to cherry-pick data in order to cover his record failure as our Mayor'.
She told the Daily Mail: 'Whilst knife homicides may be down, they represent just a small number of outcomes from knife offences.
'In reality, most Londoners who encounter a knife - such as a robbery - are significantly less likely to see action on that matter, and the number of knife offences in London continues to climb.'
Ms Hall added that she was 'disappointed' with Sir Mark for 'parroting these selective stats', insisting she would 'continue to push for action on all knife offences rather than focusing on the extreme minority of them'.
Laila Cunningham, Reform UK's mayoral candidate for London, also told the Mail: 'Sadiq Khan's so-called success is simply political spin. Homicide is the smallest and rarest category of crime, so a reduction in homicides does not mean London is safe.
'Measuring everyday safety by how many people have been killed is misleading. A better measure is how many people were attacked, threatened, raped and robbed, and on those measures London is in crisis. Knife crime alone has surged by 67 per cent on Khan's watch.
'The Mayor needs to stop gaslighting the public with selective numbers. Instead of policing public perception, he needs to start policing the streets.'
It comes after former criminal prosecutor Ms Cunningham last week promised an 'all-out war on crime' if she wins when the capital next goes to the polls in 2028, with 'new marching orders' for the Met to 'tackle crime that matters'.
One of the key crimes intensifying in London – and the UK as a whole - is shoplifting, with the Met reporting a record level offences in the capital in the year to June 2025.
The total hit nearly 95,000 - up 38 per cent on the previous year.
This was nearly double the 45,320 recorded in the year to June 2016, the month after Sir Sadiq took over from Boris Johnson as Mayor.
Challenged in February 2025 on why shoplifting levels were rising at a faster pace than the overall national rate, Sir Sadiq said: 'Because we have a lot of shops here, and because the cost-of-living crisis is more acute in the capital city.'
Knife crime has also risen since the Mayor came into office – with the total standing at 15,639 in the year to June 2025, up by 72 per cent from 9,100 in June 2016.
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley last June
The rate has been falling since hitting a peak of 16,736 in December 2024, which has been welcomed by Sir Sadiq – although he admitted last August that there is 'still a long way to go'.
Sex offences are also on the rise, having hit a record high of 27,150 in June 2025.
This total was up 11 per cent on the 24,423 figure a year before, and a 63 per cent rise on the 16,631 in June 2016.
A further metric to consider is 'theft from the person', which generally means taking someone's property without the use of force.
This total has almost tripled since Sir Sadiq became Mayor, standing at 99,079 in June 2025.
This was up from 33,180 in Mr Johnson's final year in charge in 2016.
Sir Sadiq did however point out last August that the most recent total was down from a record high of 102,454 in 2024.
Separately, analysis by The Times showed nearly 231,000 phone thefts have been recorded over the past four years in London.
There were 117,211 phones stolen in 2024, which was up 25 per cent on the 91,481 total in 2019.
Insiders at City Hall told the newspaper that shoplifting and mobile phone theft crime levels were not 'where they should be', but street crime would reduce due to investment in neighbourhood officers.
On Monday, Sir Sadiq promoted figures from the Met which showed police recorded 97 homicides in London in 2025, down from 109 in 2024 and the fewest since 2014.
He added that London's homicide rate now stands at 1.1 per 100,000 people making it lower than any other UK city and below many comparable global cities, including New York (2.8), Berlin (3.2), Milan (1.6) and Toronto (1.6).
The Mayor also said it was 'significantly lower' than rates in major US cities such as Los Angeles (5.6), Houston (10.5), Chicago (11.7) and Philadelphia (12.3).
Teenage homicide has fallen to its joint lowest level in almost three decades – matching the record set in 2012, according to Sir Sadiq.
Last year there were eight teenage victims which was a 73 per cent reduction since 2021, with teenagers accounting for 8.3 per cent of all homicides in London.
The Mayor added that last year London also recorded the 'fewest number of homicides of victims aged under-25s this century'
He said the number of homicides of young people was three times higher in 2019 than today, while hospital admissions of young people for knife assault fell by 43 per cent over the same period.
Sir Sadiq said: 'There are some politicians and commentators who've been spamming our social media with an endless stream of distortions and untruths, painting an image of a dystopian London. And nothing could be further from the truth.'
President Trump, who has been directing insults at Sir Sadiq for a decade, said in September that crime in the city is 'through the roof.'
He has called Sir Sadiq a 'stone-cold loser,' a 'nasty person' and - in front of the UN General Assembly last September - a 'terrible, terrible mayor.'
Mr Trump has also claimed without foundation that Sir Sadiq wants to bring Sharia, or Islamic law, to London.
City officials say a combination of targeted policing aimed at organised crime and a violence reduction unit that aims to stop young people from getting involved with gangs have helped reduce violent crime.
But declining rates for murder and other violent crime are only part of London's crime story.
Many Londoners have first-hand experience of phone-snatching or have witnessed the surge in shoplifting documented by the Office for National Statistics.
'It feels like the minor crimes have gone up,' said Vijay Pankhania, walking his dog outside London's city hall beside the River Thames.
'Things like stealing mobile phones from people - I've seen that loads of times around here.'
The Crime Survey for England and Wales, which asks people about their experience of crime rather than relying on police figures, found overall crime rose by 7 per cent in the year to March 2025 from the previous 12 months, although it remains significantly lower than in 2017.
He added that there were 'certain politicians, certain commentators who have been using London as a punchbag' to fit their own political agenda.
'London is, in my view, the greatest city in the world. We are liberal, we are progressive, we are diverse, and we are incredibly successful,' Sir Sadiq added.
He said London was a world capital for tourism, sports and culture, with 'more international students than any city in the world' and a 'record amount of foreign direct investment'.
Sir Sadiq continued: 'Last year, more Americans came to London to study or to work or to invest since records began.'
He added that a belief that Europe is being overwhelmed by immigrants was 'nonsense,' but expressed concern that people unfamiliar with London, whose 'sole source of information is a social media feed... may wrongly believe that this dystopian vision of London is true.'
Mark Hill, a lecturer in cultural computation at King's College London, who studies the growth of social media posts about violence in London, said there was evidence that online discourse was shaping offline behaviour.
'Posts where people are asking if it's safe to visit London might be bots, but are just as likely to be real people who are concerned about coming to London,' he said.
'These narratives are impacting their decisions about where they might go on holiday. That's, in my opinion, one of the really problematic things about it.
Susan Hall (pictured last May), Conservative leader of the London Assembly, claimed Sir Sadiq had 'chosen to cherry-pick data in order to cover his record failure as our Mayor'
'There is no magic bullet at the moment for making people aware of what is statistically the case and what is misinformation or a misunderstanding of the actual reality.'
Some 61 per cent of Britons think London is an unsafe place to live while only 30 per cent see it as safe, according to a new YouGov poll released yesterday.
The survey also found that 63 per cent of Londoners think the capital is safe, while 34 per cent think it is unsafe.
In 2014, 53 per cent of Britons said London was safe, while 39 per cent thought it was unsafe.
A spokesperson for the Mayor told the Daily Mail: 'Nothing is more important to the Mayor than keeping Londoners safe and he is determined to build on the significant reductions in crime and violence that have been achieved.
'The latest ONS crime stats show you are less likely to be a victim of violent crime in London than in the rest of England and Wales.
'Neighbourhood crime, including burglary and theft, is down 14 per cent, with 16,000 fewer offences – driven by a decrease in personal robbery, theft and vehicle crime.'
Laila Cunningham (pictured last Friday), Reform UK's mayoral candidate for London, promised an 'all-out war on crime' if she wins when the capital next goes to the polls in 2028
He added that theft in London's West End had been cut by more than 25 per cent since April thanks to a 'partnership-led approach'.
The spokesman also said the Mayor's record £1.16billion funding for the Met had helped to 'double the number of local neighbourhood police officers on patrol in the heart of the capital'.
He continued: 'Last year, the Met solved 89 per cent more shoplifting cases, working closely with local businesses to protect retail workers and communities – with arrests rising year-on-year from 956 to 1,950.
'The Mayor has also overseen a record £233million investment to tackle violence against women and girls in London, funding vital support services, putting the onus of behaviour change on perpetrators of abuse and leading a public health approach which is rooted in prevention, intervention and partnership work.
'But there is more to do and the Mayor will continue to support the Met police, communities and partners to strengthen collective efforts to deliver a safer London for all.'
The Mayor also claims that the Met last year took 676 firearms and 2,894 knives off the streets, totalling 3,750 – which was a 75 per cent rise from 388 firearms and 1,743 knives seized in 2024, totalling 2,131.
He has also cited NHS data showing the number of people taken to hospital after being stabbed or attacked with a sharp weapon has fallen by 29 per cent in London in the past five years, from 1,350 to 955.
