Sadiq Khan

[cyril evans awaydays]

I clearly said "terrorism". One particular instance being the now infamous quote: "Terror attacks are part and parcel of living in a big city". Living in Tokyo, this terror-related stuff happens every day out here.....



Oh absolutely, Theresa May also has a lot to answer for, not just as PM but also as Home Secretary. But, if my memory serves, I read that the number of police officers in London is higher than it was 5 or so years ago. And I'm also sure that if this had happened under Boris' watch, you'd be leaping to his defence just as quickly

Apologies - silly mistake by me to associate terrorism with terrorists.

Sadiq Khan's quote was:

“Part and parcel of living in a great global city is you’ve got to be prepared for these things, you’ve got to be vigilant, you’ve got to support the police doing an incredibly hard job. We must never accept terrorists being successful, we must never accept that terrorists can destroy our life or destroy the way we lead our lives.”

Presumably in Tokyo you just wing it because it will never happen to you!

[Tokyo Blue]

Sadiq Khan's quote was:

“Part and parcel of living in a great global city is you’ve got to be prepared for these things, you’ve got to be vigilant, you’ve got to support the police doing an incredibly hard job. We must never accept terrorists being successful, we must never accept that terrorists can destroy our life or destroy the way we lead our lives.”

Fair enough, maybe I misread his quote so I'll admit to being wrong on that one. But aside from that, legally defending the likes of Louis Farrakhan doesn't exactly endear him to me 100%. Everyone has the right for a legal defence, but that doesn't mean I'll respect him personally for it.

[cyril evans awaydays]

Fair enough, maybe I misread his quote so I'll admit to being wrong on that one. But aside from that, legally defending the likes of Louis Farrakhan doesn't exactly endear him to me 100%. Everyone has the right for a legal defence, but that doesn't mean I'll respect him personally for it.

There is always a risk that quotes will be extracted and misused. You seem to have a downer on him for a variety of reasons which is fair enough but find the right stick to beat him. For what its worth I think Khan has come across flat footed on the increased murder rate in London regardless of its causes. As others have said this is not an easy issue you can solve in the short term but the stats are not accidental. Studying what cities like New York and, in the UK, Glasgow have done to reduce crime and murder rates are important in finding the right paths for London to do the same. It probably needs greater co-operation and co-ordination between central government and London though. If I were being cynical then what's in it for the Government to help Khan reduce London's crime and murder rate?

[Tokyo Blue]

There is always a risk that quotes will be extracted and misused. You seem to have a downer on him for a variety of reasons which is fair enough but find the right stick to beat him. For what its worth I think Khan has come across flat footed on the increased murder rate in London regardless of its causes. As others have said this is not an easy issue you can solve in the short term but the stats are not accidental. Studying what cities like New York and, in the UK, Glasgow have done to reduce crime and murder rates are important in finding the right paths for London to do the same. It probably needs greater co-operation and co-ordination between central government and London though. If I were being cynical then what's in it for the Government to help Khan reduce London's crime and murder rate?

I recently read about their holistic approach in Glasgow. Even though it's a smaller city than London, it still took years to bear fruit, so yeah there's not much chance of a quick fix.

[cyril evans awaydays]

I recently read about their holistic approach in Glasgow. Even though it's a smaller city than London, it still took years to bear fruit, so yeah there's not much chance of a quick fix.

Police resources is one element, though whenever I turn up to a Cardiff game in London they don't seem short handed. The Glaswegian approach as you say was to treat this as a mental health issue and target the individuals most likely to commit escalating criminal behaviour on this basis. They, like New York, did not shy away from swamping high crime areas with intrusive policing as part of that strategy. Glasgow's issues were probably more easy to deal with as it may have social divisions but not the multi-cultural challenges that exist in policing London. You do get the sense though that London may be prioritising terrorism over gang/knife crime.

No easy choices and I don't blame them for that. Just a bit uneasy that they have shied away from the type of policing that might pay dividends, stop and search etc, because of the negative connetations associated with it.

[Tokyo Blue]

Police resources is one element, though whenever I turn up to a Cardiff game in London they don't seem short handed. The Glaswegian approach as you say was to treat this as a mental health issue and target the individuals most likely to commit escalating criminal behaviour on this basis. They, like New York, did not shy away from swamping high crime areas with intrusive policing as part of that strategy. Glasgow's issues were probably more easy to deal with as it may have social divisions but not the multi-cultural challenges that exist in policing London. You do get the sense though that London may be prioritising terrorism over gang/knife crime.

No easy choices and I don't blame them for that. Just a bit uneasy that they have shied away from the type of policing that might pay dividends, stop and search etc, because of the negative connetations associated with it.

Absolutely, Glasgow has its own problems but not in the same vein or scale as a place like London.

It seems to me that Khan wanted a more "progressive" approach to policing such as reducing stop and search for the fear of, as you said, negative connotations. Knife crime in London has surged up 23% from last year, but I believe today he sanctioned extra stop and search powers to the police but I'm not convinced there'll be much of a let up any time soon.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

There is always a risk that quotes will be extracted and misused. You seem to have a downer on him for a variety of reasons which is fair enough but find the right stick to beat him. For what its worth I think Khan has come across flat footed on the increased murder rate in London regardless of its causes. As others have said this is not an easy issue you can solve in the short term but the stats are not accidental. Studying what cities like New York and, in the UK, Glasgow have done to reduce crime and murder rates are important in finding the right paths for London to do the same. It probably needs greater co-operation and co-ordination between central government and London though. If I were being cynical then what's in it for the Government to help Khan reduce London's crime and murder rate?

When I was in New York (mainly Manhattan) last June I was amazed to see the huge number of Police cars on the street. It did give one the feeling of relative saftety (although I couldn't resist mooching around the streets in some of the less salubrious areas of the city to mget the 'look and feel', as it were. One likes a bit of 'edge', you know....)