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Sadiq Khan has been branded “delusional” after claiming success on knife crime, despite offenses soaring.

The London Mayor posted on social media that hospital admissions for under-25s were “40 per cent lower” since his Violence Reduction Unit was launched in 2019.

He added: “Since launching England’s first Violence Reduction Unit in 2019, our work on violence prevention is making a real impact.”

But critics have slammed the comments, saying they ignore the reality on London’s streets.

Susan Hall, Leader of the Conservatives in London, hit back: “When knife crime is up – more than 86% in the last decade – for the Mayor to take responsibility for a fall in hospital admissions is galling.”

Offenses in London have climbed by more than 86 per cent in the last decade according to research by the Police Exchange.

Hall ran against Khan in last year’s Mayoral election, losing out by more than 200,000 votes.

During the election she spoke about knife violence, but was mocked by the Mayor in a debate where he told her to “stop watching The Wire”.

He made the comments just days before a 14-year old boy was murdered with a samurai sword in East London.

Hall said that the Mayor had ‘allowed’ knife crime to ‘spiral out of control’, saying: “How can he say with a straight face that this obscure Violence Reduction Unit is wholly responsible for a fall in admissions? If we want to stop hospital admissions we need to get a grip on the knife crime epidemic that he has allowed to spiral out of control in this city!”

London accounts for the disproportionate share of bloodshed, seeing 32 per cent of all knife crime and 45 per cent of knife-point robberies nationwide.

That’s despite making up just 15.5 per cent of the population.

And since the pandemic, the trend has worsened every year.

In 2024, knife crime was up 86.2 per cent since 2015, with 16,879 offences carried out.

Mr Khan’s decision to focus on hospital admissions instead of rising crime levels sparked anger from his critics.

They argue that Londoners are feeling more and more unsafe whilst violence continues to climb.

Ms Hall said the Mayor should be “getting a grip” on the epidemic instead of claiming credit for a statistical drop in admissions.

Laila Cunningham, a Westminster City Councillor for Nigel Farage’s Reform Party branded the Mayor ‘delusional’ and said that he ‘insults’ victims of knife crime.

She said: “Only this Mayor could preside over a city with the highest knife crime in the country, up 68% under his watch and still declare victory. It’s delusional, it’s dangerous, and it insults every victim.

The Liberal Democrats also slammed the Mayor, saying Londoners would not be fooled by ‘spin’.

Gareth Roberts, a Liberal Democrat Assembly Member said: “The Mayor can spin the stats all he wants, but Londoners aren’t fooled. Knife crime has soared to record levels on his watch – time to stop the PR games and start actually protecting our streets.”

Earlier this year, Khan claimed knife crime had dropped by 19 per cent between April and June, when compared to last year’s figures.

However, overall crime had climbed by 31.5 per cent in the last decade, with violent crime rising by a dizzying 40 per cent.

Violence against the person had risen 40 per cent. Possession of offensive weapons was up 23 per cent, whilst sexual offenses had climbed by 75 per cent.

Lioue French MP for Old Bexley & Sidcup said that Khan was “deluded if he thinks knife crime is down in London” warninf the Mayor to stop “desperately searching for a good news story” and “get out of City Hall and talk to Londoners about the reality on our streets”.

He added: “Over the last decade, knife crime has reached record levels on his watch. His policies have failed to keep our city safe.”

Earlier this year City Hall announced plans to close half of the Met Police’s front counters, where people can go to report crimes, as the force faced a £260 million shortfall in funding.

In February this year, the Commissioner, Mark Rowley, said the shortfall could lead the force to shed up to 2,300 of its 33,000 front line officers.

With knife crime now at pre-pandemic highs, pressure is mounting on City Hall to deliver real change.

The Express has contacted Mr Khan for comment.