Norris' crime pledge

Steve Norris today pins his political future on cutting crime in London if he is elected Mayor.

Launching his manifesto, the Tory candidate vows not to stand again if he fails to make the capital a safer place in the next four years.

He plans a New York-style "zero tolerance" approach and will hire the firm of the city's former mayor, Rudy Giuliani, as consultants.

But he risks a new row over crime figures by stating violent attacks have risen in the past four years and London "is the most violent city in the country". Last month Met Commissioner Sir John Stevens warned candidatesnot to "misinterpret" crime statistics and obscure his own message that crime is under control.

The most recent Met figures show overall crime down 1.8 per cent yearon-year, but murder up 7.9 per cent and violent crime up 4.1 per cent. There were 1,060,930 crimes in London in the 12 months to March.

Mr Norris says tackling crime will be his number one priority if he is elected on 10 June. He said: "Crime used to be just a problem in London's inner cities, but now it touches everyone in the capital. With murder and violent crime rising relentlessly, I am determined to make the changes that will actually reduce crime across London, from the inner-city estates to the leafy suburbs.

"If crime is not lower and people in London do not feel safer by the end of my first four years, I will not re-stand for election."

Mr Norris, who is second in the mayoral race behind Labour's Ken Livingstone, wants more police officers on the streets. He promises a clampdown on anti-social behaviour, minicab touts, vandals and graffiti. He will hire 500 more transport police to patrol suburban stations and up to 300 security guards to ride on the Tube after 10pm to make women feel safer.

Three of his five pledges involve crime. But he also proposes to scrap the congestion charge and introduce free school buses.

Mr Norris said crime in New York fell by 43 per cent in Mr Giuliani's first four years, with murders down by almost two thirds.

He says violent crime in London is up 15 per cent since Mr Livingstone took office in 2000, and rapes are up by a quarter. However, his analysis fails to mention that the method of recording crime changed midway through the period and that the police view increases in rape figures as a positive sign that victims are more willing to report them.

Ken Livingstone also pledged to recruit record numbers of police officers today. The Mayor, who has already increased the force from 25,000 when he came to office to 30,500 today, aims by the end of a second term to give Sir John Stevens the 35,000 officers he says he still needs.

"We are not going to stop recruiting more police just because we have reached the highest number of officers in London's history," Mr Livingstone said.