by Rakib Ehsan, spiked
A housing crisis, rampant crime and uncontrolled immigration are corroding our once vibrant capital.
Donald Trump attacked mayor of London Sadiq Khan this week for doing a ‘terrible job’ of running a formerly great city. It is hard not to think the US president has a point.
Yes, London has long been – and remains – a global powerhouse. Economically, it continues to be a key hub for the world’s commercial and financial activities. And in almost every cultural domain, it still stands out. It houses some of the greatest collections of art in the world. Its theatre scene is second to none. And with more than 50 universities and colleges, it has the highest concentration of higher-education institutions in Europe.
[…] There is little doubt that London is becoming a much more dangerous place than it was just a couple of decades ago. Data from the Office for National Statistics show that in the year 2019/20, London had the highest regional rate for police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument – at 179 offences per 100,000 people, compared with an England and Wales average of 82 offences per 100,000 people. In 2024/25, London’s rate stands at 188 per 100,000, double the England and Wales average of 91 per 100,000. A 2019 BBC investigation found that 16 of the 20 most dangerous places in the UK for serious knife-crime offences were in London.
Much of the increases can be put down to the glorification of violence among certain subcultures concentrated among London’s black, and especially Afro-Caribbean-heritage, communities. In these communities, younger people are disproportionately more likely to live in lone-parent households and are concentrated in relatively deprived parts of inner-city London.
Fatherlessness and relative poverty have been gifts for predatory violent gangs looking to recruit younger men and boys. Lacking a responsible male role model in the household, these youths invariably crave the sense of belonging and status that gang membership provides.