Knife crime in London has almost doubled in a decade under Sadiq Khan

Knife crime in London has surged 86% over the past decade, with 16,879 incidents in 2024, making up a third of England and Wales’ total, according to the Policy Exchange report Your Money or Your Life: London’s Knife Crime, Robbery and Street Theft Epidemic. The West End alone accounts for nearly 15% of the capital’s knife offences. Only 5% of robberies and 0.6% of theft-from-person cases were solved last year, highlighting enforcement challenges.

The report, authored by former Scotland Yard detective David Spencer, blames a “cosy consensus” for a 56.4% drop in stop-and-search since 2022, from 311,352 to 135,739 annually, urging a “crime fighting first” approach. It recommends “zero tolerance” in 20 hotspots and mandatory two-year sentences for prolific offenders. Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office counters that knife crime with injury, murders, and burglaries have fallen since 2016, with teen murders at a decade-low. They credit £1.16bn in funding for 935 new officers and a 20% drop in West End robberies. The Metropolitan Police report a 16% decrease in knife crime this year and 17,500 weapons seized over four years, but the report insists rising knife offences since the pandemic demand urgent action.