Labour MP David Lammy has criticised the London mayor and the home secretary over a lack of communication following four gang-related deaths in his constituency since the beginning of the year.
Pleading for action, the MP for Tottenham said the killings were linked to a drugs market as prolific as “ordering a pizza”, adding: “I’m sick of the political football, what I want is a political consensus”.
Referring directly to his Labour colleague Sadiq Khan and the Conservative MP Amber Rudd, Mr Lammy said: “I’ve had four deaths [in my constituency]. I’ve not had a phone call from the home secretary, I’ve not had a phone call from the mayor. No one has come to visit my constituency.“
His comments came after a man was stabbed to death in east London on Wednesday evening, bringing the number of suspected murders in the capital to over 50 this year, according to the Metropolitan Police.
On Tuesday 16-year-old Amaan Shakoor became the youngest murder victim in London so far this year after he was fatally shot on Monday in Walthamstow. Around 30 minutes earlier and just three miles away in Mr Lammy’s constituency a 17-year-old woman was also killed in a drive-by shooting.
Speaking on the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme, Mr Lammy, who has been an MP for 18 years, said the current level of violence in London was the “worst I’ve ever seen it” and said there was “absolutely no sign of reduction”.
While he said there was no single cause of the rising violence experienced in the capital he claimed: “What drives the gangs and the turfs wars is an £11bn cocaine drugs market. We are the drugs market of Europe and I think the police and our country has lost control of that drugs market.
“I’m hearing nothing about what we’re going to do about that rising drugs market. Drugs are prolific. It’s like Deliveroo - they’re as prolific as ordering a pizza. You can get them on Snapchat, WhatsApp. That in the end is driving the turf war and is driving the culture of violence.”
He continued: “What we’re seeing today is the worst I’ve ever seen it. There are parents, friends, families, schools traumatised and grieving. And there is absolutely no sign at the moment of reduction in the violence.
