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Labour Lewisham Violent Crime Shame

This comes a year after a report by the independent Suzy Lamplugh Trust found that Lewisham was one of the 10 most violent places in England.

No less than four of Lewisham East's seven Wards reported higher than the London average incidents of violence against the person.

In London, the average is 23.7 incidents of violence per 1000 people. But in Rushey Green it's 140% higher at 56 incidents per 1000 residents. Blackheath, Downham and Whitefoot Wards also fare badly.

"Conservatives fully support the police and Safer Neighbourhood teams working to eradicate violence from our streets," said Jonathan. "But too many of our police are still being turned by this Labour Government into paper-pushers. We need to see more police walking the beat. The Conservatives are making a specific policy pledge to do that."

The Conservative Party has a robust plan to cut down on violent crime:

- Long-term measures to deal with the causes of crime - like family breakdown, poor education and a culture of indiscipline

- Tough policing to catch those who carry and use knives

- Presumption that anyone convicted of knife crime will receive a prison sentence

- Rehabilitating young offenders to stop them committing any form of crime in the future.

The level of violence in Lewisham is "totally unacceptable". That's according to Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, Jonathan Clamp, in response to the latest annual crime figures in Lewisham, published by the Metropolitan Police.