Trump talking ‘complete nonsense’ on violence in London, Met Police chief says
Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has described Donald Trump’s claims about violent crime in London as “complete nonsense”.
The US president last month claimed the capital was too dangerous and “people are being stabbed in the ass” as he continued to criticize the city’s mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan.
He said: “Look at the crime you committed in London, my mother loved London, she loved that city.
“There are people getting stabbed in the ass today or worse. Your mayor is a disaster, a disgusting person.”
President Trump continued: “It lets crime go. There are areas in London and Paris where the police don’t want to go anywhere near those areas.”
Asked about his comments by LBC’s Nick Ferrari on Friday, Sir Mark said: “There are no no-go areas, it’s completely false. It’s completely ridiculous for anyone in America to suggest there is violence in the UK.”
“The murder rate in London is lower than every state in the United States. It’s lower than all the major cities. I think the murder rate in New York is about three or four times higher per capita than the rate in London last time I checked.”
Comparing the 12 months ending in August with the previous 12 months, the mayor’s figures on policing and crime showed there were 8,749 fewer crimes that resulted in someone being injured in the capital during that period – a drop of around 12 per cent.
Sir Mark added: “The tendency to trash London, some of which is driven by politics, is what those of us who are proud Londoners must fight against.”
Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday belatedly defended Sir Sadiq Khan after Trump branded the London mayor “horrible, vicious, disgusting”.
In the attack, which reignited his long-standing feud with Sir Sadiq, the US president also described him as a “disaster” and suggested he had done a “terrible job”.
President Trump said in an interview with Politico: “He’s a terrible mayor. He’s an incompetent mayor, but he’s a terrible, cruel, disgusting mayor. I think he’s done a terrible job. London is a different place. I love London. I love London. And I hate to see that happen.”
And he claimed Sir Sadiq, the city’s first Muslim mayor whose parents came from Pakistan, “was chosen because so many people came”. [to the UK]. “They’re voting for him now.”
A spokesman for the Prime Minister described the comments as “wrong”, 24 hours after Number 10 failed to defend the mayor.
On Tuesday Downing Street said only that the Prime Minister had a “strong” relationship with both men.
But a day later the Prime Minister’s press secretary told reporters: “These comments are wrong. The mayor of London is doing an excellent job in London, delivering free school meals in primary schools, cleaning London’s air with the world’s largest clean air zone and starting to open a record number of council houses.”
“The Prime Minister is immensely proud of the London mayor’s record and is proud to call him my colleague and friend.”
