Steve O'Connell: Exactly. That was my point.
Steve O'Connell: On my last point, as you said earlier, our terrorism officers have a very good record of putting away some seriously bad people. What worries me and many others and people who just may read the newspapers is sometimes the perceived early release by Probation of terrorists on parole. Are you concerned, as I am and as others are, that sometimes, although our officers will put them away, those...
Steve O'Connell: Yes, Mr Mayor. As you say, there are so many tragic examples of that happening in this country and in Europe. I will leave it there. Thank you for your reassurance.
Steve O'Connell: Could the Mayor confirm whether or not there has been any recent difficulty at the Beddington treatment plant that might cause foaming?
Steve O'Connell: What progress has been made on providing greater protections for police officers?
Steve O'Connell: Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. I thank you and others for your support and condolences at the loss of Sergeant Ratana. Our officers risk their lives daily to protect us and we must do all we can to protect them. This was a question that I was going to pose at the last MQT but we ran out of time and it has taken a tragic turn since then with the incident and I thank you for your response. I...
Steve O'Connell: Thank you, Mr Mayor. On the process aspect, I know there will be an investigation with live-time adjustments, but we will need to understand the process from the beginning of the interaction with the individual on the Croydon streets to how that was managed. We will look forward to those. On your comments around the increased number of assaults on officers, these have gone up immensely. In...
Steve O'Connell: Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. We will continue to look at the issue of officer safety and to make sure that we protect those who protect us. I would add to your comments around the pride in our officers in Croydon. I attended on the couple of days after with other political leaders and spoke to the Borough Commander. The pride of our officers under great stress and upset returning to...
Steve O'Connell: Is Volume Crime one of your priorities?
Steve O'Connell: Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. Good afternoon to you.
Steve O'Connell: Thank you for your comments. I appreciate fully the number one priority of serious violence in London, but of course it is a blessing that many Londoners do not experience serious violence, but they experience what I would prefer to call neighbourhood crimes, burglary, robbery and vehicle crimes. There has recently been a report by HMICFRS about sanction detections and I would like your...
Steve O'Connell: OK. I have spoken to you about confidence in the police and that has been the theme of today’s meeting up to now, which I fully support. When you took office, confidence in the MPS was around about 68%, 69%. The latest figures I have, it has dropped by 10%. The confidence across London - and we are talking about the neighbourhood - is dropping and that has a direct link with perhaps the...
Steve O'Connell: Keeping Londoners safe, I believe - and I think you believe - is your number one priority. When you took over four years ago, you scrapped the volume crime priorities under the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), which is a fair thing to do perhaps, and shifted that emphasis to serious violent crime and others. The unfortunate fact of the matter, Mr Mayor, is that after four...
Steve O'Connell: Can you offer reassurance to my constituents and other Londoners that TfL’s capital programme will not be defunded and that vital projects will still go ahead?
Steve O'Connell: Thank you, Mr Mayor, for that answer. I fully understand particularly the exchange with Assembly Member Bailey about the financial issues that TfL and you face at the moment. I come at this from a constituency point of view, unashamedly, and of course your problem, Mr Mayor, is that you will be judged over your full term. My questions here are based around Croydon and Sutton and what you...
Steve O'Connell: My question really around that - and I do understand the issues here - is about the fact that we talk about shovel-ready projects and I fear again that outer London and Croydon and Sutton will not be part of that. I will ask you a further question. You are looking at Streetspace funding for the boroughs, and I know that my borough, Croydon, particularly has bid for £1.7 million, and I hope...
Steve O'Connell: My concluding comments and question, Mr Mayor, are that, as I say, next spring you will be campaigning in the Croydons and Suttons of London and it will be interesting what you will say to those residents in those boroughs about, after five years, what capital projects you will have delivered to those boroughs. At the moment, they will feel short-changed. I do hope you can try to pick that...
Steve O'Connell: You will be asked at that time - and I take some of those points - what capital projects you have delivered and how you have improved the transport across those great boroughs. I sense, as I say and I will repeat, the residents will feel short-changed and judge accordingly. Thank you.
Steve O'Connell: ASB is up 221% in London during the Covid-19 pandemic. What are the main reasons behind this?
Steve O'Connell: What more can be done to help victims of domestic violence during the lockdown?