London: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on Monday released official figures that show a “collapse” in murder rates as he hailed the UK capital as an antidote to divisive politics and rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s attacks on the city.
According to the latest data, there were 97 homicides recorded in 2025, an 11 per cent reduction on the 190 logged in 2024 and the lowest in 11 years. In the same period, figures claim that violent incidents resulting in injury fell by a fifth, while firearms discharges were less than half what they were seven years ago.
“When I hear President Trump speaking, it’s like being back in the school playground. What I don’t want to do is have a tit-for-tat response,” Khan told reporters, in response to a question about the US President’s repeated allegations against his mayoral abilities and high crime rates in the UK capital.
“And when somebody attacks my city, our citizens, our values, our way of life — when somebody makes certain generalisations about the followers of one faith — I think it’s incumbent to stand up to them,” he said in an interview with Politico.
He also joked that he thought Mr Trump would switch his focus to Zohran Mandani when he was elected mayor of New York.
In the run-up to the vote, Mr Trump branded him a ‘communist’ while Mr Mamdani suggested the president was a fascist.
Sir Sadiq joked: “When you look at the animus, hatred and bile coming from President Trump towards me. I sort of assumed when Zohran was elected, President Trump would be two-timing me and spending time targeting Zohran.”
But he suggested that their first meeting was a form of “tactical diplomacy” rather than a genuine meeting of minds.
When it came to Trump’s criticism of immigration in the UK, he described his comments as “bile not just towards me, but.. sweeping generalisations about the country in terms of the immigration policy and how elections are fought and won.”
He added: “I genuinely think he’s obsessed. And there have been many periods where he’s said horrible things and I’ve not responded because I’m just too busy to get involved in tittle-tattle, and this pathetic name-calling.”
Last month, Mr Trump reignited his long-running feud with Sir Sadiq, saying of the city’s first Muslim mayor, whose parents came from Pakistan: “He gets elected because so many people have come in [to the UK]. They vote for him now.”
He also called him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor” and said he has done a “terrible job”.
With Labour on course to suffer heavy losses in elections in Wales, Scotland and English councils in May, Sir Sadiq suggested his party could learn from his success in London, saying: “I’m quite happy to lead, and they follow.”
But he insisted he did not want to become Labour leader, amid increasing speculation over Keir Starmer’s future. “No, no, no, no. I’ve no intentions, no plans, nor would I want to be the leader of the Labour Party or indeed the prime minister,” he said.
