It’s something every Londoner now does on instinct: I call it the “Sadiq Khan flinch”. First, the vague glimpse of an approaching e-bike in your peripheral vision. Then, the dull whizzing of the wheels. Next, a looming shadow. You blink and an outstretched, finger-gloved hand floats menacingly into sight. So you duck, crouch and pull that iPhone tight to your body. Too slow? It’s gone. A ski-masked thug has access to your bank account, your work email, your digital wallet. Before you know it, you’ve been robbed of the nuclear codes to modern life.
Londoners have lived under the reign of Khan for nine years now. In less than a decade, on his watch, the city has descended from what was once one of the world’s safest large metropolises into a global haven for gangsterism and low-level crime.
