The Conservative Party has come under fire for using footage from a stampede at a New York subway station in a sinister black-and-white attack ad on Labour mayor Sadiq Khan.
The video, posted on X in support of Conservative candidate Susan Hall, showed the stampede which happened in the US city after reports of gunfire and suggested it was taken in London.
After commentators spotted that the video about London showed scenes from New York, it was withdrawn and replaced with a video where the Penn station clips had been cut.
A source close to Mr Khan said: “It’s true to form for the Tory campaign.
“It’s a deeply misleading attack intentionally talking down London, from a candidate who appears to have no love for the city she aspires to lead.”
FACT: London under Labour has become a crime capital of the world 🥀 pic.twitter.com/IKoOFHwHvo
— Conservatives (@Conservatives) March 25, 2024
Other claims in the controversial video include that London Mayor Sadiq Khan “seized power”, London has become the “crime capital of the world” under Labour, and that Khan wants to “decriminalise illegal drugs”.
We have fact-checked some of the main assertions below.
Use of New York footage
In the original black-and-white video, scenes of a stampede at New York’s Penn Station in 2017 were overlaid with an ominous US-accented narrator saying: “A 54 per cent increase in knife crime since the Labour Mayor seized power has the metropolis teetering on the brink of chaos.
“And in the chaos, people seek a desperate reprieve.”
The video was withdrawn after commentators spotted that the footage was not from London at all.
‘Squads of Ulez enforcers dressed in black, terrorising communities’
Claim: “In the depths of these narrow passageways tread squads of Ulez enforcers, dressed in black, faces covered with masks, terrorising their communities at the beck and call of their Labour mayor master.”
This appears to be referring to a TikTok video from October last year, which showed a group of Ulez enforcement officers wearing face coverings, after weeks of clashing with a vigilante-style anti-Ulez group calling themselves the “blade runners”.
The Ulez scheme aims to improve air quality by charging a £12.50 daily fee to enter the zone for vehicles that do not meet emissions standards.
It is enforced by a network of number-plate recognition cameras, but the “blade runners” have orchestrated a campaign of vandalism against the cameras.
At the end of last year, a TikTok account, curiouswildanimals, posted a now-deleted video showing balaclava-clad enforcement staff.
In the video, the enforcers said there "had been a few threats" and told the person filming that someone had thrown "a hammer through the windscreen" of one of the vans.
Figures released by the Met in November 2023 said there had been nearly 1,000 recorded crimes connected to the cameras being stolen or vandalised in the past seven months.
TfL told The Telegraph that staff were wearing the accessories as they had been subjected to threats.
“Unfortunately, our contractors have been subjected to threats and abuse while carrying out their duties so they are advised to record any issues on mobile phones to de-escalate conflict and if necessary, record evidence for police investigations.
“'It is due to the unacceptable criminal abuse and intimidating behaviour against them that these contractors have worn face coverings.
“TfL is working with the police to catch those responsible for vandalism and criminal activity relating to Ulez and arrests have been made.”
'London’s citizens stay inside – the streets are quiet'
Claim: “Gripped by the tendrils of violent crime, London’s citizens stay inside. The streets are quiet, quieter at night now than they used to be.”
In 2022, the UN declared London one of the noisiest cities in Europe, with residents regularly being exposed to average levels of 86 decibels.
In fact, noise pollution levels are regularly exceeding the recommendations made by the WHO in 2018. Its guidance suggests that average noise exposure should only be 53 decibels.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan ‘seized power’
Claim: “The Labour mayor seized power”
Sadiq Khan did not “seize power” but was democratically elected as Mayor of London.
In 2016, Khan ran to become mayor and was elected with 57 per cent of the vote. In the 2021 London mayoral election, Khan was re-elected for a second term, defeating the Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey.
Sadiq Khan wants to ‘decriminalise the use of illegal drugs’
Claim: “The Labour mayor… wants to decriminalise the use of illegal drugs.”
In May 2022, Khan announced a commission to examine the effectiveness of the UK’s drug laws, with a particular focus on those governing cannabis.
The London Drugs Commission was one of Khan’s manifesto pledges in his 2019 re-election bid.
In an interview with the Standard in 2022, Khan said: “I have got an open mind about these issues. The key thing is for the London Drugs Commission to look at the evidence, to take on board concerns in relation to health and those worried about crime, to see where it has worked and to make a recommendation.
“I... used to be a lawyer so like to follow the evidence. We all have prejudices but rather than pre-judging the outcome, let’s wait and see.”
Khan added that communities in Los Angeles that in the past had been the victims of drug use were now entrepreneurs.
He said: “By decriminalising cannabis they have raised the quality and the safety of the product, but also raised literally millions and millions and millions of dollars in taxes.
“An industry that was illegal, where criminals were benefiting... can be transformed into a lawful industry where tax revenues are paid.”
City Hall does not have the power to change the law on cannabis but could influence the debate.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has previously said he is “very clear” that he is “not in favour” of decriminalisation as a policy.
London’s drug death rate is at a ‘record high'
Claim: “London’s drug death rate is at a record high”
The latest figures from the ONS show that London's drug poisoning death rate is at its highest in more than 20 years, but the capital has the lowest rate compared with the rest of England and Wales.
In 2022, the highest rate of drug-poisoning deaths by region was observed in the North East (133.9 deaths per million; 332 registered deaths), while the lowest rate was in London (56.6 deaths per million; 477 deaths), according to the ONS.
Deaths registered from drug poisoning in England and Wales are at the highest level since records began 30 years ago - with 4,907 deaths recorded.
‘London has become a crime capital of the world’
Claim: London under Labour has become a crime capital of the world
According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, people are less likely to be victims of crime in London than across the country as a whole. In the capital, 14.9 per cent of people experienced a crime either to their person or their household in the year ending September 2023, compared with 15.7 per cent nationally.
Further analysis of the survey by the Guardian also found that the murder rate in the capital has dropped under the last three mayors, the capital has one of the lowest rates of antisocial behaviour, hospital admissions for firearm assaults fell last year, and the capital has fewer incidents of gun crime and fewer stabbings than other parts of England.
