Shadow Home Affairs Minister Stella Creasy questions Mayor Johnsons ability to tackle
As the Government announced its gang’s strategy, London MP and Shadow Home Affairs Minister Stella Creasy questioned whether Boris Johnson was up to leading for London on tackling knife crime. She said:
“Time and time again, Boris Johnson doesn’t seem to be able to get his facts right on this critical issue. He said when he was elected that he would never accept “defeat“ in the fight against knife crime – but three years on we can see it has risen every year of his term in office, with nearly 7,500 young victims this year alone. Boris Johnson keeps bungling the evidence of knife crime and youth offending, meaning Londoners are asking if we can have confidencein his ability to lead action in this area.”
'Today’s gang announcement shows exactly why we need a Mayor who isn'tconfused but who can confront Theresa May. Gangs and knives are making the lives of many a misery in the capital but the Government is cutting the services needed to keep London safe.
'Many boroughs are seeing cuts of 30% or more in their youth offending teams, 20% in their community safety budgets, youth services slashed and we're losing 1,000 police officers from our streets. If Boris Johnson was serious about tackling knife crime he’d stop fluffing the figures, and start fighting for the needs of our city."
Number of Knife Crime Victims between the ages of 13 - 24 in the MPS Area broken down by borough for Financial Year 2007/08 - 2010/11
| FY 2007/08 | FY 2008/09 |
FY 2009/10 |
FY 2010/11 |
%change from last year |
% change from 2008 |
|
| Wandsworth | 160 | 178 | 212 | 255 | 20.28% | 59.38% |
| COMMUNITY SAFETY FUNDING Baseline 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | Youth offending Team Funding 2011/12 | Reduction on 2010/ 2011 budget | % cut in YOT budget 2011/12 | |
Wandsworth |
485,127 |
388,102 |
194,051 |
£654,445.00 |
-£131,861.00 |
-16.77% |
Cuts to Borough Community Safety and Youth Offending Teams 2011-13
November 2, 2011