MET POLICE DO THE KHAN KHAN

Sadiq Khan and his deputy mayor for policing, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, face mounting criticism over their handling of a deepening crisis in London’s Metropolitan Police budget, with their credibility hanging by a thread. The sudden revelation of a £260 million “black hole” in the police budget—conveniently announced after years of their oversight—cannot be pinned on the Conservatives, exposing their mismanagement and questionable priorities. This comes hot on the heels of news exposing an even more staggering £50 billion shortfall in the Labour government’s finances, dwarfing the deficits they’ve loudly blamed on the previous Tory administration. The chickens are truly coming home to roost for Khan and Comer-Schwartz, whose lofty promises to Londoners and the UK public have not only gone undelivered but appear to have been replaced with the opposite outcomes. Such brazen electoral deception is nothing short of unforgivable.

At a tense City Hall meeting, Comer-Schwartz was grilled over plans to shutter half of the Met’s front desks to plug the gaping budget deficit. Forced to admit she knew about the scale of these cuts as early as June or July, she faced sharp questions about the value of her £151,465-a-year role. One furious assembly member demanded to know, “What is the point of having a deputy mayor for policing and crime if you are not going to intervene on behalf of Londoners when these massive changes are being proposed?”

Previously, Comer-Schwartz seemed clueless at a London Assembly committee meeting about how many police stations or counters might face the axe. Yet, Scotland Yard’s overnight announcement confirmed the betrayal of their pledge to keep one 24-hour accessible station in each of London’s 32 boroughs, with only 20 to remain open and 18 slated for closure. This desperate move aims to address the £260 million shortfall, but it reeks of a cover-up, with Comer-Schwartz admitting the proposals were “leaked” to the media around July. Her feeble response—“We are very unhappy at the way that the information was leaked”—only fuels suspicion of deliberate obfuscation.

Conservative leader Susan Hall branded Khan a “coward” for dodging the emergency meeting and sending his deputy to face the music. She pressed Comer-Schwartz: “Since the mayor is making this decision why isn’t he here? When was he told the front counters were closing?” Hall later hammered home the point: “So basically he’s known about this for quite some time?” The evasiveness stinks of a mayor and deputy desperate to avoid accountability.

Lib Dem member Hina Bokhari piled on, challenging Comer-Schwartz: “Did you know about them before the last police committee or did you know about them after? Because this is why we are having this extraordinary meeting today. We are worried that you knew about these cuts and closures but didn’t want to talk about them. We think you are trying to shy away from the scrutiny that is needed for this particular issue.” Comer-Schwartz’s admission that she knew in June or July prompted Bokhari’s scathing retort: “So before the committee you knew this was going to happen but you didn’t say anything during that committee meeting? We had an opportunity to discuss this, we could have scrutinised you, questioned you, we could have actually discussed this rather than having a meeting in the middle of August. That is a real missed opportunity. That is really disappointing that you knew. I think you are evading questions... you didn’t want to talk about it until you had your press statement ready and you wanted to do it in your own time.”

Comer-Schwartz’s denial of dodging scrutiny rang hollow, especially as she couldn’t guarantee that every borough would retain at least one police station. Her and Khan’s claim to be “unequivocal” in supporting Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley feels like empty rhetoric, especially as they lean on the Labour government to bail out their mismanaged capital. A Met spokeswoman’s defence—that only “five per cent of crimes were reported using front counters last year” and closing them would save £7 million and free up 3,752 hours of police time monthly—sounds like a convenient excuse to mask their failure to prioritise visible policing. The claim that Londoners want “more officers on our streets” is undermined by the reality of slashed services and broken promises, with the addition of just 300 PCSOs and officers feeling like a drop in the bucket.

Khan and Comer-Schwartz’s track record of sidestepping accountability and spinning narratives while London’s policing crumbles only deepens distrust. Their sudden discovery of “black holes” they can’t blame on others lays bare their incompetence, and Londoners are right to question whether this duo is capable of delivering anything but excuses.