The Mayor of London announced last week that Londoners will see a greater police presence across the capital this summer in a bid to tackle violent crime. Sadiq Khan said there will be more police on the streets of the capital this summer. But LBC presenter Iain Dale has slammed Mr Khan for not appearing to have "any strategy".

       Mr Dale said: "I didn't really feel there was comprehension about the number of murders, the number of stabbings, the epidemic of knife crime that exists.

       "I don't see any strategy there from the Mayor of London."

       Presenter Denise Headley added: "I do think Dame Cressida Dick according to Mr Khan that was one of the most accountable officers.

       "I thought that was quite an interesting idea in terms of the things she had to address but I think the question around crime can't be looked at in a vacuum.

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       "We have to look at the causes of crime and I know some of people don't the like idea and they'll brandish the idea that the left are always looking for excuses.

       "But the questions around austerity, government reduction in spending, local authority reductions in spending especially in youth services, those things have a knock-on effect."

       It comes as London is "on track" to suffer the worst year for teenage killings in more than a decade if youth violence continues at the current rate, the UK's biggest police force has warned.

       The Metropolitan Police said that knife and gun violence could lead to the highest number of homicides among young people since 2008, when 28 young people were killed.

       Seventeen teenagers have been killed in London so far this year, even as serious violent offences declined by 22 percent and the overall murder rate is down over the past year, the Met said.

       Suspects have been charged in 13 of the 17 investigations, in which 15 of the victims were killed with a knife and more than two-thirds were black, the force added.

       By May of this year, 12 young people had been killed compared to 14 in the whole of 2020 while in June, three teenagers lost their lives in a single week as a result of knife and gun violence.

       Nineteen-year-old Taylor Cox was shot in the head in Islington on June 8 and two days later Denardo Samuels-Brooks, 17, was chased and stabbed to death in Streatham.

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       Jalan Woods-Bell, 15, was stabbed on his way to school in Hayes last Friday.

       The Met said it planned to increase the number of officers on the streets as well as patrols of open spaces, parks, bars, and clubs this summer.

       There will be "surge activity" in areas "known for serious violence and gang activity" and a robbery operation targeting suspects using e-scooters and mopeds to commit crimes.

       The force has urged people in those communities to come forward with information to help prevent violence.