The Liberal Democrat candidate for London mayor has said his top priority is policing and crime following his own experience of being violently mugged.
Rob Blackie had his neck fractured and was fitted with a titanium replacement following the attack and his perpetrators were never caught.
Mr Blackie told The Independent he will focus on “fixing” the Met Police and tackle violence against women and girls.
“After eight years, Londoners are feeling let down by Sadiq Khan, particularly on crime,” he said.
“I see this myself going around London. Every week, I’ll knock on people’s doors. It might be a burglary, might be a car theft, it could be a stabbing nearby.
“I am the only candidate with a serious and credible plan to tackle violence against women and girls. It’s time the Mayor had a proper plan too – that’s why I would create a new Mayoral Strategy for Violence Against Women and Girls and set up a new Sexual Offence Unit to drive up the number of sexual offenders caught in the capital.
“That’s the thing that drove me to want to stand. Because I thought nobody’s offering particularly serious solutions to that.
“I know first-hand from having my neck broken how horrible it is be attacked, so my top priority is to fix Metropolitan Police.”
He said he will bring hundreds of officers back to the front line to focus on serious crimes on “instead of wasting time on stop and searches for low-level drug offences”.
Mr Blackie, who is an anti-Brexit campaigner, has also pledged to introduce a “London Passport”, which will help EU citizens by providing legal support for their right to remain in the UK.
He said this is to protect them from the “incompetent and institutionally feral” Home Office.
Rob Blackie’s manifesto pledges include:
- Police focus on on convicting violent offenders and rapists, instead of “wasting time” on stopping and searching young people for cannabis.
- More police on the streets and for police stations to remain open
- Introducing a “London Passport” to help EU citizens by providing legal support for their right to remain in the UK.
- Fighting for more support for doctors and nurses.
The previous Liberal Democrat candidate, Luisa Porritt, received 111,716 votes in the 2021 election. This was 4.4% of all votes cast.
You can read Rob Blackie’s full manifesto here.
Voters can cast their ballot in person on 2 May, by post or by proxy. Find your nearest polling station here.
Everyone will need to show photo ID at polling stations before they vote.
The results will be announced at City Hall on Saturday 4 May.
Read the full list of candidates here.
