Mayor 'cannot stop' teenagers killing each other
Friday, 11 January 2008 12:00 AM
The mayor of London has said he cannot stop the capital's gang-related murders because teenagers lack a moral code.
Speaking during a televised debate ahead of May's London mayoral elections, Ken Livingstone said a lack of "moral code" was partly to blame for recent murders, with two young people killed in London in the first weeks of 2008.
"This is a generation that has been exposed to horrendous levels of violence in cinema and on television," he said.
"No mayor, no commissioner of police, can stop young people killing each other if they haven't been given a moral code.
"This generation's parents grew up in the eighties. I was brought up to respect others, to respect the city I lived in, and we've got to get back to those values."
His Conservative rival for City Hall said it was "tragic" Mr Livingstone was blaming London's crime problems on Thatcherism.
Boris Johnson had asked Mr Livingstone to explain the "spate" of gang-related teenage murders in London, saying it "broke his heart that so many kids are growing up scared".
Mr Livingstone is seeking a third-term as mayor in May's elections and is keen to play up his successes of the past eight years.
During ITV's London Talking debate he told viewers: "If you don't believe London has improved in the last eight years then you shouldn't vote for me, but I believe there's a real record of delivery."
But Mr Johnson tackled the mayor's record on crime, claiming Mr Livingstone had wasted money funded groups that had not helped to address the problem.
The Conservative MP said: "The reason Londoners aren't feeling any safer is that they aren't any safer."
Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Brian Paddick concurred that the extra police numbers championed by Mr Livingstone had made "not one bit of difference to crime".
Mr Paddick said the mayor was becoming "more and more isolated" from what Londoners are saying.
Figures released today show crime on London's buses is worse than two years ago, despite increased police numbers and CCTV.
The London Assembly's transport committee said antisocial behaviour among teenagers was a particular concern, with people feeling less safe using buses than any other type of transport.
Newsletter sign up