Today’s Good Morning Britain saw Sadiq Khan appear to discuss the horrific news another victim, believed to be 22 years old, had been killed in Anerley, South London as a result of knife crime yesterday.
Presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid were particularly furious over the issue as both have teenage children, and they quickly launched into a tirade against the Mayor.
But as the debate continued on the ITV programme, Reid, 47, struggled not to burst into tears as she became more and more upset on the live programme.
“Every parent who walks around London now is frightened,” Morgan, 53, began. “Your Twitter feed has been full of keeping London safe as Mayor. But now people are being stabbed on an almost daily basis in this city.”
Politician Khan then went on to say there were three things he’s planning to do to try and eradicate the terrible crime in England’s capital city, but Susanna cut him off.
“I share the fair concern and anger you’re talking about,” Khan conceded. “And there are three things we’re going to do. One, we set up earlier this year a violent crime task force.
“There are 150 officers – no knife carriers – in parts of London,” the Mayor continued. “We’ve made more than 1,500 arrests, taken weapons off our streets including guns and offensive weapons. But making progress has taken officers, and we’re reprioritising.
“The second piece of work we’re doing…” Khan went on, but was then shut down by the presenter.
“Can I interrupt,” she called out. “Knife crime has surged in the UK and London, and I can’t talk about it without getting upset.
“What do parents say to their teenage sons about travelling on the tube, going out to buy chicken, going to Clapham Common in the afternoon after school?
“You can’t say that they’re safe, as the Mayor of London.”
Reid’s voice continued to break but she fought on to interview the London Mayor.
“Friday night a 17-year-old was stabbed in South London,” she said, still wavering. “You know, my kids were out on Clapham Common that afternoon.
“I can’t talk about a task force and things are being done to my children – when teenagers cannot go out!”
“The evidence is, they really could be [in danger], but what can parents say in that situation?” the presenter demanded.
Summing up his plans, the Mayor replied: “We’ve got to treat knife crime like an infection.
“So we’ve got to treat the infection, that means tough enforcement, that means more police officers on the streets like we’ve done.
“You’ve got to stop the infection spreading – [tackling] criminal gangs are really important [and] drugs are really important – thirdly, you’ve got to stop the infection happening in the first place.
“That’s why we are investing in preventative youth services,” Khan added as the interview came to a close.
Piers later said he was disappointed every time the London Mayor appeared on the ITV programme it was to discuss knife crime, and called it “boring” and “tragic”.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
