London Mayor Khan Warns Police Budget Cuts to Undermine Security

London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned the national government on Monday against new cuts to the capital’s police budget that would leave Londoners vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Home Office is preparing to change the way the policing budget is shared out across the country, which will potentially lead to more forced savings to be made by London’s police after it has had to shed $723 million since 2010.

"Keeping Londoners safe is my first priority as Mayor… especially in the wake of recent horrific attacks in Berlin and Istanbul," Khan said. "But if the Government subjects London’s police service to any further cuts, it will become near impossible to maintain the number of police on our streets."

​​Keeping Londoners safe is my first priority as Mayor. That means keeping police officer numbers as high as possible. https://t.co/dWmf3DaM2s

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) 16 января 2017 г.

​Khan added the government was providing only half of what is needed to police major gatherings in London, despite it being a major global capital and hence a likely target.

Last December’s truck attack on a Christmas market in central Berlin killed 12 people. At least 39 people lost their lives on New Year’s Day when a gunman opened fire inside a nightclub in Istanbul.

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