London's mayor says falling crime shows the city is safe despite alarming online claims

London’s mayor says falling crime shows the city is safe, pushing back against online claims that paint the British capital as lawless. Speaking with police chief Mark Rowley, Mayor Sadiq Khan pointed to a 14% drop in “neighborhood crime” in the year to June, a category covering phone theft, pickpocketing, residential burglary and vehicle crime. In Westminster, including Parliament, Soho and Leicester Square, those crimes fell by more than a third, and dropped by a quarter in Camden, another tourist area. Khan said that social media narratives about London’s “decline” have risen sharply, citing an “outrage economy.” He also noted 97 recorded homicides in 2025, the fewest since 2014. The mayor warned about rising hate crimes targeting Muslims and Jews.