![](https://static.standard.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2020/02/03/15/sadiqkhan02022020a.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=1000)
![WEST END FINAL](/https/www.standard.co.uk/img/newsletters/newsletter_we_final_embed_desktop.png)
The Children’s Commissioner has called for more urgency from central government in tackling violent crime [Graduates ‘could protect children from being lured into gang crime’, February 18 ]. I agree.
But the Mayor is also failing to show the leadership our city needs. The Violence Reduction Unit, which he established after recommendations in the report I authored for the Youth Violence Commission, has met just eight times since it was launched. On average, 20 people have been killed between each meeting. I would hold weekly VRU meetings to give this issue the attention it needs.
I would launch a London Youth Service to keep young people safe and appoint a young Mayor for London to oversee it.
I’d work with schools and councils to end permanent exclusions, re-open police stations shut by Sadiq Khan and boost community policing. And I’d legalise cannabis to take away power from the drugs gangs that fuel violence.
Too many people are dying and we need action, not words.
Siobhan Benita, Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate
Editor's reply
Dear Siobhan
I remember my visit to Glasgow with Lib Peck, newly appointed head of the London VRU, to learn lessons from Scotland. Maureen McKenna, Glasgow’s dynamic director of education, told her: “You have got to get rid of your pupil referral units (PRUs). They’re ghastly.”
Glasgow reduced violent youth crime by 48 per cent in a decade by getting rid of its PRUs and all but eradicating permanent school exclusions. It’s not so easy in London, where there are about 60 PRUs, about 2,000 exclusions a year and schools do not fall under City Hall control. Glasgow’s gang violence tends to be territorial. In London, it is more closely linked to organised crime.
![](https://static.standard.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2020/01/31/10/theexcluded31-01-2020.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Mayor Sadiq Khan is spending £5 million a year on the VRU. Its intentions are good but its targets are opaque to the point of being non-existent. A weekly public holding to account of all responsible for the VRU sounds an eminently sensible way forward.
Ross Lydall, Health Editor
Ignoring vaccines can hurt fertility
As a retired virologist I was pleased to see the article by Rohan Silva [“Not having the MMR vaccine could have left me infertile”, February 20 ]. As he said, it is very important that 95 per cent of children are vaccinated to protect the whole population.
However, I think that Rohan was a bit confused by measles and mumps. It is mumps that can affect the testicles and hence may damage fertility, while it is measles that can be fatal. Measles vaccination was available in the UK from 1968, so I hope Rohan was protected against measles. We must hope that rubella does not return to the UK as this can cause congenital abnormalities if contracted in early pregnancy.
Dr Jennifer Best
Fury’s astonishing win is just the start
Superlatives are often overused in describing sporting achievements but in the case of Tyson Fury’s astonishing performance against Deontay Wilder to win the WBC heavyweight title, they are deserved.
Beating Wilder was a tactical masterclass: he out-boxed and even out-punched one of modern boxing’s most feared opponents. The next step is surely a fight against fellow Brit Anthony Joshua in the UK.
We are on the cusp of boxing history and the biggest sporting event in Britain since the 1966 World Cup final.
David Doe
![](https://static.standard.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2020/02/25/12/TysonFury250220-5.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Make our capital autism-friendly
We and almost 2,000 people are calling on Mayor Sadiq Khan to make our capital work for autistic people.
The Mayor is considering a motion, unanimously passed by the London Assembly, to create a plan for an autism-friendly London. This could cover transport, the police and public understanding of autism.
Londoners are proud that their city is open, diverse and full of opportunity — yet sometimes it feels like it isn’t open to autistic people.
A recent report by MPs and peers found that two in three autistic people don’t get the support they need. Without this, many autistic Londoners aren’t able to do every day things, like take the Tube, meet up with friends or go shopping.
The Mayor has the power to change things by following the example of Greater Manchester and delivering an autism-friendly strategy for the city. We urge the Mayor to make London work for almost 100,000 autistic children and adults living in the capital, as well as their families.
Caroline Stevens, Chief executive, National Autistic Society