Violent crime on London’s tube network has risen by a staggering 75 per cent in the last two years under Sadiq Khan’s leadership, official figures show.
Data compiled by the British Transport Police recorded 3,542 incidents on the underground in the 12 months to last November, compared to 2,029 two years ago.
As many as 909 sexual offences, excluding rape, were reported between December 1 and November 30, 2023, compared to 866 in the previous 12 months.
The number of robberies also rose steeply to 736, up from 442.
Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, who obtained the BTP figures through a Freedom of Information request, said that ‘women deserve to feel safe on public transport. Yet these alarming figures risk telling a different story’.
Ms Olney called on the Mayor and the government to develop a strategy to tackle the rise in crime, previously a named priority for Mr Khan.
Speaking to the rise in violent crime, the MP told The Sun on Sunday: ‘Violent crime is becoming a much bigger anxiety for my constituents.
‘That has to do with falling numbers of police officers on the streets and not being able to get hold of them. The Government and the Mayor of London cannot stand by and let this happen.’
On Friday it was reported the Met would cut the number of murder detectives working in London to fill in gaps elsewhere in the service amid cuts to resources.
Ms Olney called on the Mayor and the government to develop a strategy to tackle the rise in crime, previously a named priority for Mr Khan (pictured on the tube)
Mayor Sadiq Khan travels on the London Underground’s Jubilee line on August 29 last year
British Transport Police attributed the rise in crime on the tube to traveller numbers returning to pre-Covid levels.
Daily passenger levels were 85 per cent of those recorded pre-pandemic by August 2023. They were as low as half those levels in May 2021, the BBC reported.
Detective Chief Supt Paul Furnell, head of crime and public protection with BTP, told The Sun: ‘Public safety is our number one priority and our officers are working hard to deter and detect crime.’
He said there had been ‘an increase in solve rates’ for robbery and sexual offences’ and assured that BTP use a ‘variety of tactics’ to ensure journeys ‘stay safe’.
Among its campaigns, the British Transport Police has introduced an app allowing travellers to report crime.
Londoners can also text 61016 to report crime on rail services. A full guidance page can be found here.
A spokesperson for Mr Khan said: ‘The safety of women and girls is an absolute priority for the mayor and TfL.
‘TfL works with the BTP to pursue all sexual harassment offences using our extensive network of CCTV.
‘We encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses incidents to report it to the police or a member of staff.’
But wider crime trends show no sign of abating as late last year it was revealed tube crime had soared by 56 per cent in the space of a year.
The number of crimes between April and September on the underground was 10,836, compared with 6,924 in the same period in 2022.
That included a rise in the number of thefts recorded from 2,935 in 2022 to 5,378 in 2023. The number of robberies soared from 164 to 340.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said the 56 per cent increase in reported crime on the Tube this year was fuelled by a big rise in thefts and robberies.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said at the time: ‘These soaring crime rates come as no surprise to Tube workers who are on the frontline every day in this increasingly hostile environment.
‘RMT has been warning for many years that instead of an agenda of austerity and constant cutbacks we need decent staffing levels and investment to ensure a safe and secure transport network for London.’
Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday December 16, 2019
A passenger waits for an underground train in London, Britain, 6 January 2024
The Metropolitan Police has also reported challenges linked to a lack of adequate funding to tackle serious crime.
In August last year it was reported the government had withdrawn £31 million in recruitment funding from Scotland Yard in spite of warnings it was already anticipating a shortfall in staff of some 2,000 officers by 2024.
Ministers had set aside funding as part of a Tory manifesto pledge to recruit 20,000 new officers over a period of five years by March 2023, dubbed the Police Uplift Programme.
As the Met did not meet its recruitment targets, it was then hit with an compounded loss of £30.8 million earmarked as grant funding.
A spokesperson for mayor Sadiq Khan said at the time the decision was ‘ill-judged’ and ‘deeply regrettable’, as reported by the Evening Standard.
