CONSERVATIVES SEEK ANSWERS ON LONDON GROOMING GANGS
Police & Crime Committee this week saw the Deputy Mayor and Assistant Commissioner in the hot seat.
After writing to the Mayor earlier this month to demand a London-wide inquiry into grooming gangs, City Hall Conservatives secured a spot on the Police & Crime Committee Agenda to quiz the Deputy Mayor on the matter, supported by the Met Police Assistant Commissioner.
ARE THERE GROOMING GANGS IN LONDON?
Straight out the gate, Susan Hall AM was quick to ask the question that we’ve been seeking answers to for weeks now: are there grooming gangs in London? And if so, what is the scale of the issue? After weeks of Khan avoiding an answer, we tried again at the PCC Committee. Watch now:
WHERE WAS THE MAYOR’S OFFICE?
The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) operates with a large budget and resources. With this in mind, and considering the city-wide responsibility the office has, Lord Bailey AM asked what MOPAC was actually doing in order to support the Met Police and local councils to tackle grooming gangs, as well as identify and tackle patterns emerging. The Deputy Mayor’s response? Seemingly not much.
WILL THE DEPUTY MAYOR BACK A LONDON INQUIRY?
The Mayor still hasn’t deigned to answer our letter calling for a London-wide grooming gang inquiry, so we thought we’d ask his deputy. Sir Keir Starmer has told us that local inquiries are the best way to tackle this issue, and so we want to know if his London colleagues agree - but when asked by Susan Hall, the Deputy Mayor seemed to think a national inquiry is already happening! Are they clueless or what?
LABOUR TRY TO REWRITE HISTORY - WE WON’T LET THEM
We had to stop the questioning for a moment to set the record straight. Despite the Deputy Mayor for Police and Crime insisting that Labour are investing in London policing, we know that’s not true. Listen to Emma Best AM pointing out to the Deputy Mayor that under Khan we’re set to lose 1,300 officers, whilst Sadiq Khan had to hand money back to the last Government because he didn’t meet his recruitment targets.