Emily Carver is a writer and broadcaster.
It’s hard to ignore that London feels less safe. Low-level antisocial behaviour, daily muggings and concerning crime statistics are enough to make anyone feel a sense of intimidation going about their daily life. Speaking to friends and relatives in the capital there is certainly a sense of unease – and one I’m sure is replicated in many towns and cities across the country.
One striking example is the number of men and boys wearing hoodies and black face masks covering everything but their eyes, often walking shiftily or hanging around on the street corner in groups.
Now perhaps I’m jumping to conclusions. Could it be that this garb is just a fashion statement? It’s true that a quick Google search shows this type of clothing is being marketed to young men as ‘urban streetwear’. But I imagine to most of us, it appears their goal is to look as intimidating as possible by hiding their identity – and it certainly has that effect.
Last weekend, for example, I felt compelled to move tube carriages after spotting a man dressed head to toe in black, both hands in his pockets, wearing both a hoodie and a black face covering. Was he a threat? I don’t know. But I certainly did not want to take my chances. My initial thoughts were a) that he was up to no good, and b) that he could have a knife.
It seems to me that there is a rather strong case to ban face masks and balaclavas on public transport and in other public settings, considering how intimidating to others they can be. It’s utterly depressing that this is even something to consider, but surely the right for law-abiding citizens to feel safe should take precedence over the liberty to wear anything you like. How enforceable a ban would be is a question – though, equally, what’s the point in CCTV if potential criminals cover their identity so freely?
Of course, many of our politicians wish to downplay the level of crime, not least in London where Sadiq Khan was recently fact-checked by the Office for Statistics Regulation for claiming that knife crime in the capital had fallen on his watch since 2016 when he was elected Mayor of London.
Back in reality, knife crime has significantly increased since Khan took office. Official data shows that there were 12,786 knife offences in the capital in the year to the end of March last year, a 40 per cent increase on the same period in 2016. So, knife crime is very much not down, and that’s just the offences that have been recorded.
Considering this, it’s perfectly rational to feel a sense of suspicion when you see a masked up, hoodie wearing figure approach you on the platform.
Then there’s the stark increase in street crimes, with “theft from a person” up 27 per cent last year compared to the year before. That includes mugging people for their watches, handbags and mobile phones. Metropolitan Police figures show there were 72,756 such incidents reported in London alone in 2023, compared to 57,468 in the previous year. In the borough of Westminster, thefts rose 40 per cent last year. Widespread criminal gangs made worse by government’s failure to control our borders is hardly helping.
The police have had had success in cracking down on e-bike crime, confiscating illegal e-bikes and e-scooters usually associated with street robberies, but with the vast majority of robberies going unsolved, it hardly encourages confidence.
Neither is it all a great advert for ‘global Britain’. Only this week, Indian business people were complaining to David Lammy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, about how crime, particularly physical muggings is one of their biggest concerns in London.
To law-abiding people, these incidents seem so outrageously brazen it’s clear these thugs feel completely untouchable.
The Home Secretary has announced today that the police will be handed more powers to ban masks and fireworks during demonstrations, as well as jail sentences for those who climb on war memorials. This seems utterly reasonable: having recently watched the police stand aside as they watched young men with masks clamber over statues and traffic lights while letting off flares, it’s clear the police have favoured a ‘hands-off’ approach.
And when it comes to law and order, I can’t help but wonder where the Prime Minister is in all this. Where’s the moral leadership? It was disappointing enough that we didn’t hear a peep when Mike Freer announced his decision to step down due to constant death threats from extremists, other than a faceless statement from his spokesperson that he felt “extremely saddened”.
Keeping people safe is one of if not the most important duty of any government, and its clearly failing in that basic duty.