Revealed: More than 700 children as young as 10 caught with knives and firearms in London schools

0:00Josh Barrie: And I thought, what if I've scaled businesses? What if I scaled my philanthropy? What if I did as much in one year as I've done in my whole life? See how your wealth could have even greater meaning at creativeplanning.com slash impact.

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0:49Anthony France: Hi, I'm Charlie Duffield and welcome back to The Standard Podcast. If you're new here, hit follow and give us a rating. For the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. Coming up later in the show, a feast for foodies as the best restaurants in the country are revealed.

1:16Anthony France: But first, more than 700 children as young as 10 have been caught with knives and firearms in London schools, according to new figures obtained by the standard. It comes as 371 safer schools officers have been withdrawn across the capital, with young people allegedly put at risk to save money. And a recent survey by the Ben Kinsella Trust, an anti-knife crime charity, found that two-thirds of youngsters felt anxious about knife crime in their area, with one in four believing that carrying a blade made them safer. Joining us now is The Standard's crime correspondent, Anthony France. Anthony, what do these new figures obtained by The Standard reveal?

2:04Josh Barrie: The new figures show the shocking scale of knife crime in schools and nurseries in London. And we sent in a freedom of information request to the Met who replied. And it shows that over 700 children, some as young as 10, have been caught with weapons, be that knives or firearms, at London schools in the past five years. Of them, 97 were girls. This, of course, is a terrible indictment on the knife crime in the capital.

2:36Anthony France: And how is the police budget shortfall contributing to this situation?

2:41Josh Barrie: Adding to the mix of these number of weapons that have been found in schools, we have, unfortunately, the decision that over 370 specialist police officers in schools in the capital are being withdrawn. And the reason for that is because Scotland Yard has a budget deficit of over£260 million, which they've got to plug. And one of the things is that these schools' officers are now going to be deployed into neighbourhoods where the police say that they can be more effective. But teachers and charities are very concerned about the result of this and believe that children will be at more risk of violence and gang exploitation.

3:22Josh Barrie: They won't be dedicated police officers in some schools. Research tells us that children are most vulnerable to knife crime on their way to school or after school or when they're in the school building.

3:36Anthony France: What have anti-knife or anti-gang violence charities said?

3:40Josh Barrie: We spoke to the Ben Kinsella Trust and people may remember Ben Kinsella. He was the 16-year-old brother of former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella and he was stabbed to death in 2008. 2008. And ever since then, his family have campaigned against knife crime. They think that these officers have been sacrificed without consultation or regard for young people who really value their presence. Patrick Green, who's the chief executive, when I spoke to him, he reminded me very much that Ben had actually written to the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown just before his death, saying that the government wasn't doing enough to keep young people safe.

4:18Josh Barrie: And what he says, he was 17 years old from the murder this month. He feels that it's Ben's letter all over again. He says that young people are possibly being put at risk in order to save money. And he said that I think Ben's words are as powerful then as they are now.

4:34Anthony France: What should the government be doing to keep young people safe?

4:38Josh Barrie: It's that time when the government and the Home Office are looking at police funding. The Metropolitan Police have had to make very difficult choices, as well as schools officers. We've seen cuts to the Royal Park Police. We've seen cuts to the flying squad. The axe looks like it's going to fall on some of the front counters in London. The government and the police chiefs certainly want more money. They're basically saying buildings are falling apart in London with over a million offences every single year in London. The very, very, very stretched metropolitan police and the thin blue line, it's becoming extremely difficult to carry on doing the job.

5:17Anthony France: Do you have anything else to add?

5:19Josh Barrie: We're talking about these issues about knives and in schools, a very interesting fact that came out of the statistics that were released by the Metropolitan Police shows how the number of weapon possessions in schools has actually reduced over the years from 2020. So in 2020, you had 179, then it went down to 176, and then you see 64 last year. But the Met says it's inaccurate to say that this has got anything to do with the redistribution of officers. So the number of times police have been going to schools in the last five years has reduced. But this reduction in weapons that they're finding in schools goes against what we know the national figure and also the London figure is for the number of knife crimes.

6:11Josh Barrie: The police chief would say that is a positive. I think critics might say that the police's focus might be elsewhere.

6:21Anthony France: Let's go to a break. Coming up in part two, if you're feeling peckish, stay tuned for some fine dining inspiration. We'll see you back here in just a moment.

6:38Josh Barrie: For investors at the highest level of sophistication, those with strong advisory support, the natural outcome is two distinct portfolios, one public, one private. Each plays a different role in the overall strategy. Uncover new investment opportunities for you at creativeplanning.com slash new.

6:53Anthony France: If you've ever sent a cold email, you know how it goes, figuring out who to email, where their contact info is, and what messaging will land. It takes time and sometimes dozens of tabs. I've been there. That's why I use Apollo. Apollo is an all-in-one system for data enrichment, sequencing, automated messaging, and intelligence, powered by AI that helps do the work so you can do everything from finding prospects to closing deals, all in one place. Head to Apollo.io and sign up for free. That's Apollo.io.

7:38Anthony France: Welcome back. Last night, the National Restaurant Awards took place to celebrate the brilliance and vibrancy of the UK's eating-out scene. And for Londoners, there are plenty of noteworthy dining spots to try, as a total of 56 restaurants from the capital made the top 100 list. Joining us now is The Standard's food and drink writer, Josh Barry. Josh, the National Restaurant Awards are a pretty big deal, aren't they?

8:08Josh Barrie: Yeah, the National Restaurant Awards, really prestigious. Founded in 2007 by Restaurant Magazine. I think the first awards ceremony was 2008. There are a lot of Restaurant Awards out there. This one is certainly up there with the best. Top chefs attend. Everyone's always quite excited about it. I guess, you know, because it's been going a fair amount of time. restaurant magazine is respected and it's a kind of independent panel so obviously restaurant magazine and other chefs important figures in the industry decide on on the list tell me about this year's winner the winner this year is the ritz overseen by chef john williams who's really respected and liked in the industry and he got a michelin star a while ago but it took a long time to get to many people thought it was overdue you know it's it's a really high-end dining room very glitzy very glamorous very expensive too but it's worth the money if you can afford it the food is amazing it's a relic of a bygone era almost you know the service is still silver service feels like you're in a film sometimes when you eat there the restaurant critic standard's restaurant critic david gave it five stars he called it london's best restaurant i think it was last year it's not just restaurant magazine that that thinks this everyone's in agreement i think well deserved

9:27Anthony France: What does the list of 100 top restaurants say about cuisine in the capital?

9:33Josh Barrie: The list shows the wealth of diversity in London. London is a fantastic food city up there with the best in the world. And the list reflects that. A lot of the restaurants on the list, or most of the restaurants on the list, are sort of well known. There are restaurants on the list that have been on there since 2008, since the first one. And obviously it's a UK-wide list, but London features heavily. London always does very well and has a good showing. You know, you've got market ones like restaurant Gordon Ramsay. That's kind of very prestigious. And I would have thought most people or at least anyone into food would have heard of that.

10:04Josh Barrie: And then you've got, you know, more affordable restaurants. For example, I mean, you know, Gastrope over the years, Devonshire, everyone's heard of that too. That's got a£25 set menu, which is fantastic value. A lot of people can go there if they can get a booking. Obviously, we know how popular it is. The Devonshire is just one ahead of Kiln, which is a fantastic restaurant tie and really affordable too.

10:23Anthony France: and I'm sure you've been to at least a few on the list yeah I have actually number two is

10:29Josh Barrie: Morehall I really love Morehall that's a three-star restaurant oh Chishuru's great I love Chishuru that's on the list that's um Joko Bukari's restaurant West African food which is like you know again representative of a changing scene and the industry recognizing not just sort of classic fine dining or French or Italian or whatever but so many other cuisines out there that are all fabulous as well.

10:49Anthony France: Finally, who are the other notable winners we should know about?

10:53Josh Barrie: The opening of the year is Anglo Thai. That's a really great restaurant and causing a lot of buzz. And when that was named, you know, it got huge cheers. Everyone was really happy for the team because it took such a long time to open that. It was kind of pop-ups in residency for years and years and the pandemic delayed it, among other things. Finally, that's open. It got a star within like a few months of opening and stuff. And so Restaurant Magazine has rightly recognized it as well the chef of the year this year was was mark birchall he's the chef behind moorhall which i mentioned earlier two more actually i'll mention restauranteur of the year is david carter he's a guy behind manteca oma agora which are really popular agora and manteca certainly really affordable he's really well regarded and the one to watch this year was one club bro which is kind of like a new york you know you enter through this back alley it's it's a restaurant above the nave of clubs in charge there's patrick powell he's chef he was at allegro and before that, Chilton Firehouse, which is closed at the moment.

11:48Josh Barrie: Anyway, One Club Row, the food's great and fun and it's a really good vibe and there's a piano and candles. Good for people watching. One Club Row is the place to be now.

12:02Anthony France: And that's The Standard. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk and if you'd like to get in touch, please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk. we'll be back here tomorrow at 4 p.m we'll see you then

12:27Josh Barrie: i thought what if i've scaled businesses what if i scaled my philanthropy what if i did as much in one year as i've done in my whole life see how your wealth could have even greater meaning

12:37Anthony France: at creativeplanning.com slash impact if you've ever sent a cold email you know how it goes figuring out who to email, where their contact info is, and what messaging will land. It takes time, and sometimes dozens of tabs. I've been there. That's why I use Apollo. Apollo is an all-in-one system for data enrichment, sequencing, automated messaging, and intelligence, powered by AI that helps do the work, so you can do everything from finding prospects to closing deals, all in one place. Head to Apollo.io and sign up for free. That's Apollo.io.