Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said the US president has been talking “complete nonsense” during recent comments about crime in London.
Sir Mark was responding to Donald Trump’s accusations that crime levels were “crazy” and that police did not want to patrol some parts of the UK capital.
Speaking to LBC, Sir Mark said: “In terms of some of the comments that come from America about London… they’re complete nonsense.
“This trend of trying to rubbish London, some of which is driven by politics… we need… to fight back about it.”
But the police chief admitted more work was needed to improve the performance of the force and outcomes for Londoners.
“Clearly there are some crime issues that we’re tackling, and it’s not perfect, I’m proud of the progress we’re making in reducing crime.”
During an interview with GB News in November, Mr Trump, who has a long-running feud with London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, claimed people were being stabbed “in the ass or worse” in London.
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“My mother loved London. She loved that city… that was a different London than you have today. Today you have people being stabbed in the ass or worse… it’s crazy,” he said.
He added that the mayor was “a disaster” who was “letting crime go”.
Mr Trump added: “You have areas in London, and you have this in Paris too, where police don’t even want to go anywhere near those areas.
Responding to those claims, Sir Mark said it was “completely false” to suggest there were parts of the capital deemed as no-go areas for police. And he hit back at crime rates in London compared with the US.
“The homicide rate in London is lower than every single US state. It’s lower than all their big cities. The murder rate in New York, last time I looked, is three or four times higher than London per capita.”
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On Tuesday, the US president used an interview with Politico to hit out at Sir Sadiq, who he called a “disgusting mayor”, and implied the Labour politician gets elected only “because so many people have come in”.
The prime minister’s spokesperson openly criticised Mr Trump’s comments on Wednesday, saying that Sir Keir Starmer has “made clear” that they were “wrong”.
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On Friday, Liberal Democrats leader, Sir Ed Davey, said the prime minister should take a more robust stance against the US president who has proven himself to be what he called a “totally unreliable” ally.
