Last week I attended the Mayor of London’s summit on serious violent crime. As Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is responsible for the Metropolitan Police, but there is only so much he can do without more support from national government and the Home Secretary. Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP, the Home Secretary, was also at the summit along with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick and London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing Sophie Linden.
The meeting of London MPs, Council Leaders and Borough Commanders was called following the recent surge in knife crime which has contributed to nearly 50 people already having been murdered on the streets of London this year. Everyone at the summit was concerned by this, and felt that every life lost was a waste and that action had to be taken. I have been shocked by the rise in knife crime I have seen over the last year in Ealing Southall and concerned that families now feel unsafe leaving their houses. Some parents say goodbye to young children unsure if they will come back, and that is not an acceptable situation.
The Conservative Government has cut and cut from the Metropolitan Police budget, and since 2010 they have lost £700 Million. That has meant fewer police officers investigating crime, staffing stations and on the streets. Obviously this has meant finding more and more cuts to make and sadly not all of them have been well targeted. Locally we have seen police counters closed and sold off, this means that people in Southall can no longer go to a counter and report a crime. The police have retained only one counter for each borough of London. That isn’t community policing.
Residents across Ealing Southall complain that they don’t see enough police on the streets anymore. While ten years ago one could see police officers engaging on the street, talking to groups and reinforcing their presence, now we hardly see one officer. This hasn’t helped with making the police a better organisation either. They no longer know their local communities, and officers based at the far end of Ealing have no hope of knowing the people they exist to protect at the other end. I am very disappointed that we have lost the bond that needs to exist between the police and the people they protect.
Many MPs and Council Leaders at the summit spoke about cuts to local community centres driving young and vulnerable children on to the streets, taking away somewhere safe to play and spend time with their friends. When the small number of youth centres that remain report the threat of violence or report older youths loitering outside waiting for someone the police don’t have the resources to respond. This is driving young people, girls and boys into gangs, driving more of them to carry knives and even some to come into contact with guns. This isn’t the future any of us want for our children and grandchildren.
The Local authorities need to step up and keep youth centres open and affordable for the most in need. Parents need to spend more time with their children, talk to them about who they are seeing and explain that a gang is never the answer. The police need to change their behaviour, come closer to their communities, know the community and work with them, not just be seen from afar. Most importantly the Conservative Government needs to recognise that their cuts are damaging our children and driving the next generation into a cycle of violence. That is killing people.
