London mayoral candidate Andreas Michli pledges to 'get deaths under control' and end knife crime

Sign up to the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxReceive our free View from Westminster emailPlease enter an email address valid emailPlease enter a valid email addressI would like to receive an email about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policyThank you for signing up to email View from Westminster{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later.{{ /verifyErrors }}

Andreas Michli, independent candidate for London mayor, has said he will end knife crime and “bring deaths under control” in the capital.

Mr. Mitchli is a health and fitness entrepreneur and gym owner, who describes himself as “just a regular guy – a family man born and raised in London”.

Speaking to The Independent, he said: I'm fed up with the way our city is run, and that's why I'm running for mayor .

“I could count on one hand the amount of good positive things that Sadiq Khan has done, it would most likely be on one or two fingers, so I will do absolutely anything that is different from what he did.

“The main focus of my campaign is on policing and crime, particularly knife crime. This is an area that none of the other candidates address. There are 13 candidates in total, as you know, and of the 13 candidates I am the only one who has presented a plan to end knife crime in London. »

His plan to end knife crime, called Operation Brennan, is a “comprehensive multi-faceted approach from all angles to tackle the problem. »

He said: “The only priority of the plan is to preserve life and control deaths.

“We need to reintegrate the police into the communities because we have lost our engagement with the police.

“The gap continues to widen and no one trusts them anymore. There is a lack of respect towards the police and we will never move forward in our society with this distrust. We need to tackle the wider, more deeply rooted cultural issues around knife crime.

Mr. Michli would also reduce the town hall's share of the housing tax, remove Ulez and the urban toll.

“Charging people to use our public roads is a fundamental attack on our right to travel,” he said. “We cannot continue to penalize ordinary working-class Londoners for the failures of City Hall. »

As for Ulez, he said “there is very little correlation between air quality in London and car use. »

A report published late last year and commissioned by Logika Group Air Quality Consultants found that Ulez has avoided more toxic air pollution than that produced by the capital's airports or its transport river and rail combined.

“I really care about ordinary working-class Londoners because I’m one of them,” said the independent...