Council leader Adam Hug

LABOUR-RUN Westminster city’s record on crime came under scrutiny as politicians clashed in the penultimate full council meeting before the knife-edge election on May 7.

Labour argues that it has taken “bold action” on anti-social behaviour since coming to power four years ago, including the restoration of the city’s CCTV network. It said hundreds of fines had been issued for illegally dumped waste, dockless bike obstruction, and rogue pedicab driving. And it recently announced that new powers are being handed to officers to make on-the-spot fines for anything from swearing to loitering.

But opposition councillors say that residents “do not believe a word of it” and that Westminster feels more unsafe than ever.

Council leader Adam Hug told the meeting on Wednesday: “Labour made sure the council’s action on anti-social behaviour and crime was the main item of business at full council in the autumn.

And it has been a theme returned to now on multiple occasions by the Conservatives, where we’ve heard a long list of concerns but nothing to suggest they have any new ideas about how to address the problems that they raise.”

He listed a series of initiatives that included boosting “city inspectors”, a group of officials he said were cut by the Conservatives when in power.

Little Venice ward Cllr Melvyn Caplan said: “Adam, you can say all you want. We are delighted you are standing on your record. It is a record of abysmal failure on crime. That’s what residents are telling us. You never see a police officer patrolling our streets. What our residents care about is that. You are papering over the cracks. I can assure you on May 8 you will find out that what we are saying is important. What you are saying about what you are doing, people don’t believe a word. And you will be out of office on May 8.”

Vincent Square ward Cllr Lena Short said “the plain fact is that criminality is the biggest problem in my ward”, while former Labour councillor – now Tory – Paul Fisher said that the decreasing murder rate was not as important as the high levels of “theft of the person and robbery”. Former Conservative – now Reform UK – Cllr Alan Mendoza, in his maiden speech since defecting last month, said: “Westminster is the most dangerous borough in London and that is not something we should be proud of. The solution is going to be Laila Cunningham who is going to get tough on crime in London. You can laugh now but you will all be laughing on the other sides of your faces in 2028.”

There was a huge roar of laughter from all across the chamber, and shouts of “she’s on the Christmas list”.

Lancaster Gate’s Cllr Cunningham, Reform UK’s candidate for the 2028 London mayoral election, did not attend the meeting and has signalled that she won’t stand again for the city council.

Labour cabinet member for community safety Cllr Aicha Less said: “We have invested more into public safety than ever before. We have restored the CCTV network. Since October there have been 500 incidents caught on cameras and on 43 occasions footage has led to arrest. So, again, the bold action has led to results.”

Questions were also asked about why not a single new social housing project has been “conceived” by the council in the four years it has been in power.

The meeting also heard the latest about Oxford Street pedestrianisation that has been taken out of the council’s hands by London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan.

Labour has a majority of two going into the May election.