Priti Patel tells Sadiq Khan 'to spend his money on police not PR'

Home secretary Priti Patel on Friday (23) demanded assurances from Sadiq Khan that he was "putting as much resource as you possibly can into the Metropolitan Police Service”.

In a letter to Khan, Patel alluded that the London Mayor was spending money on public relations that could go towards fighting crime, reported the Evening Standard. Patel also alluded to allegations the Khan's PR budget had climbed from £1.3m to £2.5m.

Patel wrote: “Londoners must be confident their Police and Crime Commissioner is doing everything in his power to put an end to this senseless violence.

“I want to see what robust plans you have in place to reduce violent crime in the capital. I understand there have been 90 homicides so far this year. That is 90 too many.”

A spokesman for the mayor told the Standard: “After years of Government cuts to the police and preventative services, it is deeply disappointing that the Home Secretary is playing political games rather than setting out how Ministers will urgently address violent crime in London.

"Furthermore, there remain serious concerns about the Home Secretary’s plans to end the free movement of labour on day one of a no-deal Brexit.

“The Mayor strongly believes this is wrong, and that it is callous and cruel to use people as bargaining chips."

Last week, Khan wrote to Patel seeking clarification on her new plans to impose instant border restrictions on the event of a no-deal Brexit.

"Ending free movement without transitional arrangements would undoubtedly have a severe economic impact as businesses would have very little time or capacity to prepare for such a fundamental change to our labour market. The same would be true for public sector organisations, including our NHS," said Khan in his letter to the home secretary.