Mayor of London says 'middle-class' cocaine use is contributing to London violence

The Mayor of London told James O'Brien that purchasing drugs is not a victimless crime

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that "middle-class" cocaine use has contributed to violent crime in London.

The Labour politician said there was a "definite link" between the two and that there is no such thing as a victimless crime.

Speaking on an LBC phone-in, the Mayor said purchases of the Class A drug had a part to play in violent crime in the capital.

He said: "There is a definite link between drugs and criminal gangs. There are some Londoners who think it's a victimless crime taking cocaine at 'middle-class' parties.

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

Mr Khan said the way to combat the problem was to educate drug users about the consequences of their actions.

The Mayor recently attracted controversy for allowing a 20 feet long balloon of an infant Donald Trump, clutching a mobile phone logged into Twitter, to fly next to parliament when the American President visited the UK earlier in July.