LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged London mayor Sadiq Khan on Wednesday to get to grips with crime in the capital and to be tougher on knife-wielding teenage gangs.

Johnson said London police chief Cressida Dick was a formidable officer but that a decision on renewing her contract was for the London mayor and Home Secretary Priti Patel.

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"It can be fixed... you need to be tougher on the gangs, tough on the kids carrying knives and I do think stop and search is a part of that," he told LBC Radio.