Dear Londoners — As somebody who loves the capital, it can feel truly dispiriting to see the proliferation of narratives, often by right-wing influencers, which would have people believe that the city is a cesspit of crime and debauchery. As the people who live and work here, we know better than most that London isn't a modern Gomorrah, but that doesn't stop people like Elon Musk (who, as a reminder, lives in Texas) flapping his gums about how the city is “filled with crime” and “often doesn’t feel like Britain at all”.
Well, today we have it officially: London has one of the lowest murder rates in both Europe and America. Will this be enough to quiet its naysayers? Probably not, while there's money to be made in spreading fear. But it's good to see confirmation in the statistics. There is, however, one group that's being left behind in this progress: black teenage boys. We drill into this, and the wider stats, in our Monday briefing below, as well as your usual recommendations for food, drink and things to do.
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Big story: London’s murder rate hits new record lows
Topline: London’s homicide rate has fallen to its lowest in more than a decade, according to new data released by City Hall.
The data: The new figures indicate that there were 97 homicides in 2025, an 11% reduction on last year. That’s the lowest total recorded since 2014, and it comes despite the rise in the capital’s population. The capital’s homicide rate of 1.1 killings per 100,00 people makes it lower than any other UK city. It also makes London one of the safest cities in the Western world, with its rate significantly lower than Milan (1.6), New York (2.8), Berlin (3.2), Chicago (11.7) or Philadelphia (12.3).
Why is it falling: Officials say there are two main reasons for the fall: more focused policing, with the Met arresting an additional 1,000 offenders each month and focusing their efforts on addressing the most violent gangs, and the mayor’s pioneering Violence Reduction Unit (VRU).
The VRU tries to prevent violent crimes by intervening before young people are drawn into criminal behaviour. This includes working in schools to tackle exclusions and absenteeism, funding for after-school activities and putting youth workers in police custody and A&E departments. Since being set up in 2019, the unit claims to have delivered 550,000 targeted interventions.
“Extraordinarily safe”: The news will feel like vindication for mayor Sadiq Khan, who has been facing constant jabs from right-wing pundits and politicians who depict London as a crime-ridden hell hole (often these figures are American — President Trump and Elon Musk are particularly keen on this narrative). "Many people have been trying to talk London down, but the evidence tells a very different story,” Khan said in a statement. “Last year London had the lowest murder rate per capita since records began, the fewest murders of those aged under 25 this century, and one of the lowest number of homicides for almost three decades.”
Met police chief Mark Rowley told the Financial Times that the new data was evidence that London as “an extraordinarily safe global city”. But is everything what it seems?
Will it change the online discourse?: Whether this new tranche of evidence will be enough to deter the constant discourse about London’s lack of safety is a harder one. Perceptions of crime often don’t correlate with actual crime rates, especially when these narratives are propagated widely online (with help from bots and AI videos).
Often, the people sowing these ideas don’t even live in the capital. Recent polling by YouGov found that residents of every region of the UK believed that the capital was unsafe — except for Londoners themselves, who overwhelmingly thought the opposite.
The communities left behind: While on the whole, London is undoubtedly one of the safest cities in Europe, that isn’t to say that everybody has felt this positive change. Once you dig below the surface, a more complex picture appears — as we documented in our article last week, young black men living in the city’s most deprived boroughs have actually seen an increase in their likelihood of being killed.
Drilling down: The reduction in homicides has primarily been driven by a decrease in white victims, which have fallen by two-thirds in 20 years. Conversely, since 2019, more than one in ten London homicide victims has been a teenage black boy. The number of black victims of knife homicides is higher in recent years than it was 20 years ago. And in the last decade, homicides of black people across the capital rose. Read that full story here.
Katharine Swindells
Your news briefing
🚇 Over the weekend, Heineken took over parts of the Bakerloo line to promote its 0% beer, latest big name in TfL’s ongoing tube network sponsorships. This meant maps and station signage were temporarily rebranded, with names changed to “Bakerl0.0” and “Waterl0.0”. Campaigners soon hit out saying the rebrand risked causing "unnecessary confusion” to some disabled passengers who need consistent, recognisable information across the network. What hasn’t been reported, however, is that one of these new signage panels (a restyled Bakerloo line map) seems to have got Maida Vale and Kilburn Park in the wrong order, seen in a photo posted to Reddit. An embarrassing cock-up (one bound to confuse travelers further?) or a deliberate attempt at virality? We’ll try and have answers for you soon.
🍞 A woman has been arrested and fined £100 for alleged antisocial behaviour. The bad conduct in question? Feeding some pigeons. A video of the incident went viral on social media, before getting covered by the likes of the Standard, in which the woman in question is being detained and handcuffed by police in Wealdstone for allegedly breaking a Public Space Protection Order (a type of order designed to crack down on antisocial behaviour). Eventually, she is released by the officers with a note describing the particulars of her offence as “throwing bread on the floor”.
🏠 While the past week’s rain might have you thinking that flooding will be the climate crisis’ primary effect on London, new research by Aviva has found that last year’s record breaking heat has led to an increase in gaping cracks and slanting floors as properties are affected by subsidence. And, by 2030, more than a million homes will be at risk, as the clay underpinning the city’s foundations shrinks — with the multi-million pound mansions of Kensington and Chelsea most vulnerable.
🏥 Two men died just a day apart after both suffering head injuries in the overburdened emergency department at St George’s hospital in south London. The deaths, which happened in February 2024, are being brought to light now after a coroner wrote to the health secretary Wes Streeting to express their frustration over the cases, which they claimed demonstrated “impossible situations where demand clearly exceeds available resource”.
Quick hits: a protestor has scaled the Iranian embassy in Kensington to remove the country’s flag, David Bowie’s childhood home is being restored by the Heritage of London Trust and will be opening to the public next year, the Department for Transport names and shames the worst London boroughs for potholes.
Know more about the above stories? Or have any tips about anything else? Let us know using the anonymous form below or email our editor.
In case you missed it…
- Despite constant online discourse about London crime, the capital’s murder rate is at a record low. But how did it happen? And which communities have been left behind? On Wednesday, we went on a data dive to find out.
- On Thursday, Andrew went to deepest, darkest Thamesmead to cover the strange saga of how the man who mapped London’s rivers for Google, a guerrilla bee and the capital’s last horse grazers got into a fight with the company behind London’s biggest trash incinerator. Check out our dispatch here.
- For our weekend read, Hannah spent the day at the Regency Cafe, the caff so iconic it has been the backdrop for countless films and TV shows, to find out what the future holds now it’s been taken over by new owners. (Say hello to potential franchises in Berlin, Amsterdam and Dubai.) The piece also features beautiful photography by Harry Mitchell.
Wining and dining
With endless offerings and non-stop openings, we all know that deciding where to eat and drink in the capital can be fraught. We want to make it easy — so every week we’ll give you our insider guide to the city’s best spots.
One perfect meal: Though it may look like just a typical takeaway from the outside, you'd be hard pressed to find a better snack anywhere in the capital than the lamb samosas at Afghan Grill in Bethnal Green, shatteringly crisp and dusted with spice mix. Meat is grilled expertly over open coals, and though the Afghani Mix Grill (four portions of tender, smoky meat served with huge, pillowy Afghan naan) is listed as serving only one to two people, it could comfortably be shared between a whole group, albeit with a couple of sides. If any Londoners have tackled the platter single-handedly, we salute you. Options for vegetarians are slim, but still delicious — try the badenjan buranee, a dish of sweet, slow-cooked aubergine and tomato.
One perfect drink: It’s a certainty more absolute than death and taxes that whenever the conversation about the best pub in London comes up, someone will mention the Southampton Arms in Kentish Town. Its unrivalled beer selection, stripped-back wooden interiors and pork-based bar snacks has given it a quiet self-assurance that’s catnip for both locals and those further afield. But fame can be a double edged sword. As is always the case with these places, the hordes have descended en-masse and it’s invariably rammed, even on a weekday. So you might be excited to know landlord Pete Holt has opened a sister pub in Islington called the Pocket, which has been decorated and stocked to be an uncanny clone of its original. It just won the award for “best new pub in London”, so the crowds are already descending — we recommend making the pilgrimage now before there’s no more room.
Our favourite reads
The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are getting a glow up — Henry Wismayer, Financial Times
Described by Sir David Attenborough as the place “where the public outreach of science began”, the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs comprise 30 massive prehistoric animal sculptures located in Crystal Palace Park. They were proudly unveiled in 1854, but after 175 years or so, need a bit of a touch up. This excellent long read from the Financial Times Magazine covers the fascinating history of the beloved dinosaurs, and efforts to rejuvenate them in time for this spring.
‘We’re in limbo’: the garden centre ‘golden mile’ that may be lost to a new town — Joanna Partridge, Guardian
As part of their drive to build 1.5m homes during this Parliament, Labour’s New Towns Taskforce has earmarked Crews Hill in Enfield as a slice of “poor quality” green-belt land suitable for 21,000 homes. Those who stand to lose out? A cluster of local garden centres who have made the area their home for decades.
To Do List
- In need of a little photic stimulation on these dark January nights? Pop along to the Winter Lights festival in Canary Wharf, a free festival featuring installations and shows from renowned light artists, running from 20–31 January.
- For a different kind of winter light, book yourself a ticket to see Tim Crouch’s production of The Tempest at The Globe, held in the candlelit Sam Wanaker Playhouse (don’t worry, it’s indoors, though you might want to bring a blanket regardless). Some £5 and £10 tickets still remain, and the show will run from 17 January to 12 April.
From the archive
Just a few months ago we did an explainer on the disappearance of the Cockney accent, where one of our interviewees spoke about how often the same nostalgic pieces about the death of the East End come out. But we had no idea how far it went back until we saw this now 50-year-old BBC News clip about the “last surviving” pie and mash shops keeping East End culture alive.
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