Today's Standard has an article by Boris Johnson trying to pin the blame for violent crime in London on Ken.

Johnson has been under pressure to make this attack for weeks but had shied away. Even he knows that it‘s a cynical use of the tragic series of incidents involving youngsters and knife crime.

But he hasn't been able to stop himself.

The reality is that the Tories cut police budgets through the 1990s, leading to less police on the streets. As police numbers dropped, crime rose.

Under Labour, and with Ken as Mayor, there is a record number of Metropolitan Police officers, while crime has fallen. Every neighbourhood has its own beat team of officers - and got them before the rest of the country - thanks to Ken’s Safer Neighbourhoods programme.

Boris attacks Ken for not speaking out, but he is mistaking cynical spin for real action. Tory police cuts, and their pledges to axe youth services, community centres and other programmes that help prevent crime, put them on shaky ground here.

It highlights the sort of campaign we’ll be up against between now and May. You can sign up to help fight back through www.kenlivingstone.com.