Cocaine use at 'middle-class parties' helping fuel gang violence on London streets, Sadiq Khan warns

'There is a definite link, which has been shown to me by the police, of drugs and criminal gangs and knife crime and crime going up,' says mayor

Mr Khan also said Brexit could make tackling the drugs trade harder (Rex)

Sadiq Khan has joined a police chief and a minister in warning that cocaine use at “middle-class parties” is helping to fuel drug-related gang violence on London’s streets.

The mayor said recreational drug use was not a "victimless crime" but is instead linked to rising violent crime in the capital.

"We have got to make sure we take action among those young people who are involved in criminal gangs as well as those who are buying them at middle-class parties," Mr Khan said, answering questions on his LBC Radio phone-in show.

"There is a definite link, which has been shown to me by the police, of drugs and criminal gangs and knife crime and crime going up.

"There are some Londoners who think it is a victimless crime, taking cocaine at middle-class parties,” he added. "We need to make sure Londoners realise there is no such thing as a victimless crime."

His comments are likely to strike a chord with large sections of the public, although some have noted that deprivation, unemployment and poor education could be greater determinants of rising violence in London.

Nonetheless, competition over the potentially lucrative profits to be made through dealing drugs is likely lead to conflict between groups jostling for territory in London where buying drugs is as easy as ordering a pizza, according to Labour backbencher David Lammy.

“Some of the young people being knifed on our streets in London, some of the young people losing their lives is because they are involved in criminal gangs who are lower down the food chain in relation to drugs," Mr Khan said.

Mr Khan, who campaigned for a Remain vote in the EU referendum, said Brexit could make tackling the drugs trade harder.

"The drugs come from overseas and the idea that we will be more effective at fighting crime by leaving the EU - by not having the security arrangements with the EU - is ridiculous," he said.

The mayor's comments came after justice secretary David Gauke said in May that middle-class people who take cocaine "should feel a degree of guilt and responsibility" when they see stories of teenagers being murdered in Hackney, east London.

Mr Gauke’s comments preceded Police Federation drug policy lead Simon Kempton’s remarks at the staff association’s conference in May where he also said middle-class drug users were to blame for violence related to drug trading.

“‘The only reason gangs are into drugs is because people want to buy them, and a big part of that is not street-level users. Street-level users are a problem because they steal to fund their habit but on their own they will not support an organised crime group,” he said.

“The big market is people with money to spend and they are often oblivious to the misery they cause because it is not on their doorstep. Middle-class drug users do not come across the radar of police because they are consuming it behind closed doors.”