Home Secretary James Cleverly criticised the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for his lack of vigilance in addressing recent incidents of violent crime in London.
The criticism came after the father of a Nottingham stabbing victim issued a stark warning, expressing his concern that knife crime is spiralling "out of control in our country." His statement came just 24 hours after a tragic incident in which a man fatally wounded his 14-year-old son with a sword and left a policewoman seriously injured.
Fury erupted following confirmation that a 14-year-old schoolboy, Daniel Anjorin, had become the latest victim of London's knife crime epidemic.
Anjorin was attacked just moments after leaving his house, falling victim to a machete rampage in Hainault that left four other individuals, including two police officers, seriously wounded. Anjorin, a private school pupil, was reportedly wearing headphones when he was fatally attacked by Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, a Brazilian-Spanish national.
As Daniel's devastated family grieves the loss of their "wonderful child," frustration is growing over his death and what appears to be Sadiq Khan's inadequacy in addressing knife crime in the capital.
Knife Crime Epidemic: A Growing Concern
Cleverly, who recently claimed the UK-India partnership could play a key role in handling global conflicts, joined the chorus of voices criticising the Mayor's perceived shortcomings on the eve of a series of local elections across England and Wales, including the race for City Hall.
"I've publicly been critical of what I believe to be a failure of the Mayor to take violent crime in London seriously enough," the Home Secretary told The Sun's "Never Mind the Ballots" show. "I think comments like that betray our willingness to be honest about the increase in knife crime in London," he added.
Cleverly noted, "This is something that I've raised with him directly, and hearing those comments, as I say, reinforce the fact that he is not focusing on the things that he, as Mayor of London and Police and Crime Commissioner for London, should be concentrating on."
The Business Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, has also voiced criticism against the Mayor of London for his track record on crime, especially as London has earned the unfortunate distinction of being labelled the knife crime capital.
Yesterday on LBC, Badenoch believed that Sadiq Khan does not take knife crime seriously. "Just a few days ago he was on LBC laughing at the Conservative candidate Susan Hall talking about machete wielding in London," she said.
During the Mayoral hustings last week, when challenged on the subject by rival Susan Hall, the Mayor downplayed fears about gangs "running around with machetes" in London. Khan responded to Hall, saying, "Stop watching The Wire; we're not living in Baltimore, USA, in the noughties."
London's Knife Crime Surge: Calls for Urgent Action
A spokesperson for Khan accused the Business Secretary of attempting to politicise the tragic murder of a child. Dr Sanjoy Kumar, whose daughter Grace O'Malley-Kumar was a stabbing victim in Nottingham, expressed to The Telegraph, "Knife crime is out of control in our country, and the government is lagging behind in legislation."
While much is happening worldwide, Dr. Kumar believes addressing domestic issues in the UK should be an urgent priority to ensure the safety of our public, especially children. Badenoch was asked whether there should be stricter laws to combat knife crime.
"We have cracked down numerous times. People keep finding ways to get around them, so there might be more that we can do from a legislative side, but I'm one of those people who thinks that bans can only go so far. Murder is banned, and people are still killing, so enforcement is what we need to focus on," she told LBC.
Accusing the Tories of trying to politicise the murder of a child, a spokesperson for Khan said, "They have lost all direction and all sense of decency." "Meanwhile, Sadiq constantly contacts London's emergency services about yesterday's tragic events.
"His priorities remain securing more funding for the police and tackling the causes of crime by investing in young people." In January, both the Labour Party and the Tories criticized the Conservatives for postponing action on tackling knife crime, especially after statistics showed a 20 percent increase in the knife crime rate in London.
