Last week, journalist Dan Wootton claimed in a column in the Sun that “Since Boris Johnson stepped down as London mayor, crime in Sadiq Khan’s London has soared at five times the rate of the rest of the country.”
This is incorrect. Between the year ending June 2016 (i.e. roughly the whole year before Mr Khan was elected in May 2016), and the year to March 2020 (the latest data) the total number of recorded crimes per person increased by 18% in London and by 31% across England in general.
So not five times faster, as Mr Wootton claims, but slower.
But the change in recorded crime depends on the offence. For example, over the past year, homicides increased by 23% in London compared to 8% across England, while violence against the person in general increased by 2% in London compared to 7% across England.
Since publishing this article, the Sun has now corrected the error.
PLEASE SUPPORT US FOR JUST £2 A MONTH
