Reform will put police officers back on our streets, restore effective stop and search, prioritise the prosecution of violent and sexual offenders, expand prison capacity and deport foreign criminals, says Laila Cunningham
I spent years prosecuting criminals. I’ve stood in courtrooms, listened to victims and seen the devastation crime leaves behind. I thought I understood the consequences of violence. Then it came to my own front door.
Two of my seven children have been threatened with knives in our own neighbourhood. I know exactly what a knife can do. The thought that one of my children could leave home one morning and never come back is something I share with so many other London parents.
When did we start accepting this as normal?
Crime is the cancer killing our country. It is eating away at our communities, destroying lives and robbing people of the freedom to live without fear. And the first step in treating cancer is admitting you’ve got it.
Which brings me to Sadiq Khan.
According to our Mayor, London is one of the safest cities in the world. Apparently, much of the fear surrounding crime is down to misinformation and social media algorithms.
My children didn’t encounter knives on Tiktok. They encountered them on the streets of London.
I find it extraordinary that a Mayor responsible for keeping Londoners safe spends so much time trying to convince them that they are safer than they feel.
Nearly a third of women in London fear for their physical safety when leaving home. The Metropolitan Police detects just seven per cent of reported crimes. Meanwhile, police stations have closed, officers have disappeared from our streets and the Met remains thousands of officers short.
Lectures and misinformation
Londoners know what is happening in their neighbourhoods. They don’t need Sadiq Khan to explain their own experiences to them.
And they certainly don’t need lectures about misinformation when the criminal justice system is failing them so badly.
We have reached the extraordinary position where criminals are being released from prison early because successive governments failed to provide enough prison places. I know what victims go through to secure a conviction. The courage it takes to give evidence. The months, sometimes years, spent waiting for justice.
Imagine finally seeing the person who terrorised you sent to prison, only to be told they are coming out early.
For victims of domestic abuse, that can mean going back into hiding. Living in fear again. Wondering whether the person who threatened or assaulted them will turn up at their door. What kind of justice is that?
Prison capacity is the responsibility of ministers. The public should not ne at risk because ministers failed to do their job.
We have police officers risking their lives to arrest criminals, prosecutors working to secure convictions and courts passing sentences, only for offenders to be returned to our streets. The system is failing the very people it exists to protect.
Reform will put police officers back on our streets, restore effective stop and search, prioritise the prosecution of violent and sexual offenders, expand prison capacity and deport foreign criminals.
The measure of a Mayor is the safety of the people he was elected to protect. And on that measure, Sadiq Khan has failed London.
We will restore consequences for breaking the law.
I want a London where parents can let their children go out without that sickening feeling in their stomach. Where women can walk home without fear. Where victims know that when a criminal is convicted, justice will actually be served.
These are the most basic expectations of a civilised society. Yet millions of people no longer feel they can take them for granted.
Sadiq Khan can carry on telling Londoners how safe they are. I intend to make them safe.
Because the measure of a Mayor is the safety of the people he was elected to protect. And on that measure, Sadiq Khan has failed London.
Laila Cunningham is Reform UK’s candidate for Mayor of London