I will bite my lip at VHG's comments as I believe his them to be somewhat ill-judged (ouch...bit my lip so hard there, I actually drew blood!)
"Well whoever gets in, which one will address one of the biggest problems in our Capital, that being the escalation of gang stabbings."
Probably neither. I can't think of many policies either have put in place (apart perhaps for the 'Boris bikes') which have made a scrap of difference to my daily life. This is a problem that needs to be tackled by the police, social services, schools, youth and community leaders. The mayor can lend his support and promote community projects, but in terms of getting stuff done - probably best left to those who have a social agenda, rather than a political one.
"With expected visitors from abroad coming to London for the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond jubilee, could this gang problem frighten some away?"
Undoubtably - but it would only frighten away those who are planning to come to London to join gangs and get stabbed. Remember - all the people who are stabbed in gang violence...are in gangs. They aren't tourists, and tourists tend to go to tourist areas, rather than Peckham, Wandsworth or Dalston.
Indians haven't stopped coming to the UK to work/study just because Anuj Bidve was shot in the head (by the way - has anyone actually been arrested for that yet???)
"What measures should the MET. now take to address this on-going problem?"
Have they been too lax in the past?
No, not really. I suppose if you assume that police turn a blind eye to gang violence or that Operation Trident is just a smokescreen for inactivity, then you'd have an argument. However, stop and search is still in operation with a recent 70% rise in stops, with black seven time more likely to be stopped than whites
(cf.
http://www.guardian.c...op-and-search-police)