Sadiq Khan is accused of doing ‘next to nothing’ to crack down on violent crime in London

London Mayor Sadiq Khan faced growing pressure to crack down on violent crime last night.

Tories accused him of doing ‘next to nothing’ following six murders in four days and 59 so far this year.

Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘London is inundated with crime at the moment and – apart from putting out statements – Sadiq Khan has done next to nothing on this.

‘We have gang warfare on the streets of London in some boroughs yet Mr Khan’s priorities seem to be elsewhere. He needs to make this his No1 priority and focus on getting rid of these gangs. Many constituents cannot see the point in him.’

London Mayor Sadiq Khan faced growing pressure to crack down on violent crime last night, with Tories accusing him of doing ‘next to nothing’ following six murders in four days and 59 so far this year (pictured at City Hall in June)

Former policing minister Kit Malthouse called for Mr Khan to consider introducing tough measures similar to those brought in by Boris Johnson when he was London mayor. Mr Malthouse, now Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told LBC radio station that London ‘has been plagued by knife crime in the past and seems to be in the grip of it again.

‘I just hope that the mayor starts to take this as seriously as we did all those years ago and leans in hard.’

Mr Khan admitted this week that nearly a quarter of killings and more than half of shootings in London are linked to gangs.

He said he was boosting funds to tackle them by £8million. Last night he said the latest killing of Thomas O’Halloran was ‘heartbreaking’. His spokesman said: ‘Overall, crime continues to fall in London, bucking the national trend.’