Per week in Sadiq Khan’s London: A pensioner stabbed to dying on her doorstep, youngsters looting retailers and Tube crime up 46% after the pandemic… however Mayor nonetheless insists the capital is a ‘secure metropolis’

With teenagers rampaging through high streets, young people openly vaping on trains and an elderly woman stabbed to death outside her home in recent days, the moniker ‘lawless London‘ has never seemed more apt.

But Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan continues to insist that London remains a safe city, urging British diplomats stationed around the world this week to help counter what he described as ‘disinformation and lies’ about the capital amplified by Donald Trump.

The Labour politician used a Reuters interview on Tuesday to call on diplomats to help fight back against ‘propaganda’ from the US President – on the same day that young mobs in Clapham were attacking emergency workers and looting shops.

Just hours later, a woman in her 80s was stabbed to death outside her home in Plumstead, South East London, on Wednesday morning. Police said a man in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of murder and is believed to know the woman.

Meanwhile crime on the Transport for London (TfL) network is increasing under Sir Sadiq – with more incidents of violence, public disorder and a huge rise in vandalism.

The London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee said that 48,000 crimes were reported across TfL services in 2025 – up 46 per cent against a pre-pandemic average of 16,544 amid ‘unacceptable’ levels of violence against women and girls.

Two weeks ago, a group of foul-mouthed teenagers sparked a terrifying brawl inside an Elizabeth line train carriage after a middle-aged passenger asked them to stop vaping, before the melee spilled out onto the platform at Stratford in East London.

Mr Trump, a frequent critic for more than a decade of Sir Sadiq whom he has called a ‘terrible mayor,’ has made a series of claims about London – including assertions that crime is ‘through the roof’ and that the city wants to ‘go to sharia law’.

But Sir Sadiq, in an interview following a meeting with British diplomats, ambassadors and high commissioners, said that London was not perfect but that it remained a safe city – safer than major US cities.

The Mayor pointed to data showing that London last year recorded its lowest number of homicides per capita since records began, along with a decline in 2025 in incidents of phone-snatching, for which the capital has become notorious in recent years. 

He said: ‘A lot of this misinformation, disinformation and lies comes from the United States of America. It’s really important to counter the propaganda coming from President Trump.’

But a White House spokesperson, responding to Sir Sadiq’s remarks, said: ‘Left-wing policies… have made once-great cities like London unrecognisable.’

The spokesperson said President Trump was ‘rightfully warning European leaders that Western civilisation will continue to erode if they don’t quickly reverse course’.

Sir Sadiq said: ‘One of the things that we’ve got to do better is to rebut these lies that exist across the globe.

He added that British diplomatic staff must be equipped with facts to challenge false claims about London and educate people.

The Mayor warned that exposure to such claims on social media could deter people from travelling to, investing in, living in, or studying in London, potentially harming the capital’s prospects.

The meeting, attended by British diplomats from countries including the US, the United Arab Emirates and Japan, also included representatives from the Metropolitan Police.

The long-standing public feud between Mr Trump and Sir Sadiq dates back to at least 2015, when the Mayor condemned the President’s pledge to impose a travel ban on several majority-Muslim countries.

Susan Hall, the leader of the Conservatives in the London Assembly who was runner-up to Sir Sadiq in the 2024 mayoral election, said today: ‘Sadiq Khan would have you believe that everything was hunky dory in London, and then if anybody says this isn’t right or that isn’t right, he then says we’re “talking London down”.

‘No, we’re not actually, we’re pointing out the problems. Look at the issues in Clapham over the last couple of days. Youths running amok, shoplifting, hurting police officers. 

‘And you know why they do it? Because they can and because they know they’ll get away with it. There’s been very few arrests. It’s a damn disgrace.’

She urged parents to ‘do your job properly and make sure where your kids are and what they’re doing’, and told police to ‘please take the stick approach and not the carrot approach’.

Ms Hall added: ‘I’m sick to death of leniency to these people that are behaving badly because, trust me, it will get worse.’

Sir Sadiq has faced continued accusations of failing to clamp down on crime – especially on the TfL network.

Some 12,951 offences on the Tube were recorded between July and December 2025 – an increase of 2.7 per cent from 12,606 in the same period in 2024.

This included a 152 per cent rise in offences of criminal damage, up from 947 to 2,390 incidents amid an ongoing graffiti epidemic on the Underground.

Some 24,565 offences were recorded across all TfL services in July and December 2025 – up 57 on the 24,508 in the same period in 2024.

But Sir Sadiq hailed data release by the Metropolitan Police in January which showed homicide in London had fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade.

It said some 97 homicides were recorded in 2025, the lowest level since 2014, at a rate of 1.1 per 100,000 people – lower than New York (2.8), Toronto (1.6) and Milan (1.6).

Sir Sadiq used the figures to justify an attack on those who ‘talk down our capital for their own political gain’ – but the Tories accused him of ‘gaslighting’ Londoners about the true extent of crime.

The Conservatives said there were 10,017 robberies involving a knife in 2024/25 – double the number in Boris Johnson’s final year as mayor.

The Tories also pointed to knife crime offences, with 16,147 recorded in 2024/25, the highest of any year under Sir Sadiq’s time as mayor. They also compared with 9,721 in 2015/16, Mr Johnson’s last year in charge.

In a statement yesterday about the Clapham riots, Sir Sadiq said: ‘The appalling scenes in Clapham in recent days are absolutely unacceptable and those responsible will face the full force of the law. Two arrests have been made and the Met is continuing to investigate.

‘There will be an increased police presence in the area in the coming days, with officers providing support and reassurance to residents and businesses.’

It comes as shopkeepers on Clapham High Street are bracing themselves for further unrest in the school holidays after it was twice swarmed by several hundred children.

Staff working on the road described having to lock their doors after teenagers ran amok on Saturday and Tuesday as part of an online trend.

The children arranged to meet in so-called ‘link-ups’ using social media apps including TikTok and Snapchat, before surging into shops, and letting off fireworks on Clapham Common.

Six teenage girls have been arrested and the Met put a 48-hour dispersal order in place on Tuesday.

Parents of the several hundred teenagers who gathered in Clapham have been warned to take responsibility by police, and make sure that they know where their children are.

The Met said there will be further arrests as officers go through CCTV and bodyworn camera footage of what happened.

After unrest on Saturday, 100 police officers were sent to Clapham on Tuesday. Four officers were assaulted, along with one member of the public.

On Tuesday, three girls, one aged 17 and two aged 13, were arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, while on Saturday two 16-year-old girls and one aged 15 were arrested on suspicion of shoplifting and assault.

Similar scenes were seen in Birmingham city centre last Friday after schools there broke up for the Easter holidays.