Sadiq Khan's Response To Caller Who Says He Has More PR Officers Than Police Officers

29 August 2019, 12:45

This is Sadiq Khan's passionate response when a caller accused him of spending more money on PR officers than police officers.

Charles called in to LBC to question Mr Khan over police numbers, based on Home Secretary Priti Patel’s allegation that he is spending too much on PR.

Defending his spending choices, the Mayor blamed austerity, saying: “The Conservative politicians that you believe in are responsible for £1 billion of money being cut from the police budget.”

He warned Charles to “check who is providing the message and please check the message is truthful.”

When James O’Brien asked exactly which part Charles disagreed with, the caller exclaimed: “I don’t believe anything he’s said. I’m sorry, he’s a failure!”

The Mayor insisted: “In 2010, it is a fact for every 1,000 Londoners there were four police officers. Now for every 1,000 Londoners there are three police officers.”

He went on to say that the Home Office finally recognised that “cuts have consequences, there is a link between cuts and crime going up.”

He then said that Boris Johnson’s pledge of 20,000 further police officers was needed “as soon as possible.”

However Charles still said he didn’t believe him. Mr Khan then launched into a passionate monologue on what he considered to be one of the problems with the UK at the moment.

He concluded: “The fact that you are a Conservative shouldn’t mean you don’t listen to me because I’m a Labour Mayor.

“The more you listen to me and I listen to you, we’ll hopefully have less of this division.”