The fact about Sadiq Khan’s Lawless London: Data reveals how crime ranges have soared within the capital since Labour mayor got here to energy – regardless of his insistence it’s a ‘protected metropolis’

Crime in London has soared since Labour mayor Sir Sadiq Khan came to power despite his claims that the capital is a ‘safe city’, figures show.

The Mayor of London, who succeeded Boris Johnson in 2016 and was re-elected in 2021 and 2024, this week urged British diplomats around the world to challenge ‘disinformation and lies’ about the capital, amplified by Donald Trump.

Sir Sadiq boasted on Tuesday that homicide rates were at their lowest since records began and pointed out that there had been a decline in 2025 in incidents of phone-snatching, for which the capital has become notorious in recent years.

The Metropolitan Police has since launched murder investigations after a woman in her 80s was stabbed to death on Wednesday and a 14-year-old boy was shot dead on Thursday. Elsewhere, an M&S executive blamed Labour and Sir Sadiq for the High Street mob attacks seen in Clapham in recent days. 

The mayor admitted that the capital – which has been dubbed ‘Lawless London’ – was not perfect but defiantly insisted that it remains a ‘safe city’ – safer than major US cities. 

However, a closer look at the data shows that a range of crimes, including theft from the person, sex offences, drugs and violent crime, have dramatically increased from when Sir Sadiq first came to power in 2016.

Theft from the person has increased by 140 per cent from 35,570 in 2016/17 to 85,465 in 2025/26. In 2024/25, the year Sir Sadiq was re-elected, it had even skyrocketed to 101,053.

Elsewhere, sexual offences have risen by 55 per cent from 17,491 in 2016/17 to 27,074 in 2025/26. 

Drug offences have risen by 34 per cent from 40,652 in 2016/17 to 54,291 in 2025/26. 

And violence against the person has soared by 51,086 incidents 27 per cent from 191,691 in 2016/17 to 242,777 in 2025/26. 

The figures, based only on crimes reported to the Metropolitan Police, do not factor in how London’s population has grown over the same time. Official estimates suggest the capital’s headcount has risen from 8.7m in 2016, the year Sir Sadiq was elected, to just shy of 9.1m in 2024 – the most recent year. 

Sir Sadiq’s staunch defence of London came on the same day that young mobs in Clapham were attacking emergency workers and looting shops.

A similar incident took place on Saturday, when shopkeepers were forced to barricade their doors after nearly 100 teenagers stormed shops, including a Marks & Spencer store on Clapham High Street. 

M&S retail director Thinus Keeve has blamed the London mayor for failing to tackle crime as he demanded answers after his staff and customers came under attack from by mobs of youths.

‘I keep hearing crime is falling, especially in London – something none of us believes, and very few people working in retail would see,’ Mr Keeve said.

‘In fact, we see the absolute opposite in our high streets and in our stores.’ Footage from the attacks showed hundreds of young people, many dressed in all black, surging into shops in Clapham, south London, in coordinated ‘link-ups’ organised through social media.

Incidents have also been reported in Birmingham, with further link-ups anticipated this weekend.

Other staff had been headbutted, while another had ammonia thrown in their face. He added: ‘It is worse in London, but it is happening across the country, and it is becoming routine because it seems there are no consequences.

‘Without a government seriously cracking down on crime and a mayor who prioritises effective policing, we are powerless.’

Mr Keeve said ‘a large group of young people had ransacked a store’ before assaulting security.

The supermarket chief’s call for action from the Mayor of London is the biggest intervention from retailers yet.

Shoplifting offences increased in England and Wales in the year to September, but remained slightly below record levels seen in the 12 months to March 2025, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures available show.

There were 519,381 shoplifting offences in the year to September 2025, up 5 per cent from 492,660 the previous year.

A total of 530,439 offences were recorded in the year to March 2025.

Meanwhile, the Met has launched another murder investigation after a 14-year-old boy was shot dead in Woolwich, south-east London, on Thursday. On Wednesday, a woman in her 80s was stabbed to death outside her home in Plumstead, south-east London.

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.

US President Trump, a frequent critic of Sir Sadiq whom he has called a ‘terrible mayor’, has made a series of claims about London, including saying crime is ‘through the roof’ and that the city wants to ‘go to sharia law’.

But on Tuesday, in an interview with Reuters, Sir Sadiq defended London, saying: ‘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 added: ‘One of the ​things that we’ve got ⁠to do better is to rebut these lies that exist across the globe.’

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.

In a statement 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.’

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.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: ‘London’s record‑low homicide rate is the result of relentless work… The results speak for themselves: fewer lives lost, fewer families shattered.

‘Every murder is a tragedy, but we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to drive down serious violence. This work will not stop, and neither will our determination to keep Londoners safe.’

The Mayor of London has been approached for comment.