Lowest murder rate in London since 1978

The Evening Standard has today revealed that 2010 saw the lowest murder rate in London since 1978. These new figures from the Metropolitan Police also show a decrease in knife and race hate murders in the last year.

Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor for policing, said:

"This is good news but we are never complacent and we want to drive the numbers down further.

"We still face the issue of teenage homicides but we are continuing to apply pressure to that problem and while we face a bumpy ride we are making progress.

"I think the reasons for the fall are threefold. First, there is a huge concentration on removing weapons from the streets so the weaponry of murder is much more difficult to come by.

"Then there is an increased concentration on dealing with domestic violence - and the brilliant record of the Met in catching and convicting murderers is a real deterrent."

Boris Johnson's first priority as Mayor was to make the capital safer by tackling crime. The figures tell their own story - crime has fallen since Boris was elected:

• Crime has fallen by 5.8%
• Murders have fallen by an average of 25%
• 9,500 knives have been taken off the streets
• Youth crime has fallen by 11%
• Robberies have fallen by 19%

Boris Johnson has proved he is a Mayor who tackles the big issues, unlike his predecessor Ken Livingstone, who repeatedly blamed the media for rises in crime, famously saying, "If it bleeds, it leads."