Sadiq Khan has warned planned Tory spending cuts would mean further reductions in the number of front-line police officers, making it more difficult to foil terror plots like that which hit the capital on Saturday night.
The Labour Mayor of London highlighted the importance of the Metropolitan Police, saying “their tremendous bravery saved lives” when dealing with the three terrorists who killed seven people and injured 48 others.
But he also warned the number of front-line officers could be reduced by between 3,400 and 12,800 officers if a planned saving of £400 million is to be made.
Khan said: “I have ensured that our police service has the resources they need to carry out the investigation into this horrific attack - however, I’m deeply concerned about the impact of the further police cuts that the Conservatives have already outlined.
“Our city has suffered two awful terrorist attacks since I was elected as Mayor – and we must do everything possible to stop there being any more.
“Police officers in our communities act as the eyes and ears of the security services, providing the intelligence and information that allows us to disrupt attempted terrorist attacks.”
Theresa May has been accused of placing the country’s safety at risk by cutting police budgets – first as Home Secretary and then as Prime Minister.
The Met has had to make £600m of savings as a result of funding reductions since 2010.
Under current Conservative plans, not only will the Met have to make another £400 million of savings over the coming years, but it could face a further cut of between £184m and £700m a year, as a result of Conservative plans to change the police funding formula.
Khan added: “Cuts on this scale would make it harder to foil future terrorist attacks on our city – and as the Mayor of London I’m simply not willing to stand by and let that happen.”
Armed police officers arrived on the scene of the attack just two minutes after being called and brought the incident to an end within eight.
One of Sadiq Khan’s first acts as Mayor of London was to approve the training of an additional 600 armed officers in London.