I reckon it probably is "fairly unsafe" compared to Devon or some other random part of the UK, even if it's pretty safe in absolute terms.
this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2026
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"I don't know" should be the most common answer in any survey.
As an Ex Londoner and Someone who visits a number of times every year I can say that as times gone on I've felt more and more unsafe. That said the experience is similar in most places but its just because of the struggle and social decline we are all feeling in the last 15-20 years.
Last time I went to London I was immediately offered drugs and when I said 'No Thank you' I was surrounded by 5 people under the age of 20 who tried to mug me, right outside of Camden train station but thankfully others came to my rescue.
So yea, For now, I think I'll stick to the rolling green hills of Wales. Let the rest of my family deal with that.
TBF most of them left londinium during the blitz, wich in their mind was yesterday. So its more of a dementia thing
Did you forget to add a /s or something?
The Blitz was 85 years ago, most of those who were old enough to remember it are dead by now.
Jesus Christ what do reform voters think is happening in London?
Oh, actually... Can reform voters even think, the stupid, easily-led, insecure, weak, bigoted little losers? I doubt it.
They store their brains in Wapping.
London is unsafe for rightwingers: it hurts their feelings.
Almost like some group of people is stoking unfounded fears...
Right wingers like to stoke those fears.
Right wingers are the symptom, not the cause. The cause is a much smaller group.
They keep saying it's the worst it's ever been, when the reality is violent crime in London is basically the lowest it's ever been
These are all people who can vote, yet are not operating with accurate information.
Same in the U.S. These people don’t give a fuck about violence, they’re just racists who don’t like multiethnic enclaves in their country, and resent that the “blue” cities have the best education, food, style, that we are the cultural drivers, and that we live in relative harmony.
Yeah last time I checked, nowadays most of the unsafest cities in the US are in red states.
As an American who is very familiar with this kind of trend, I came here to comment about wondering how these views correlate to respondents' openness to foreign cultures ("is it basically racism/xenophobia like it is in the US?").
I love that "alpha male" conservatives are scared shitless to be in a place where "feminised liberal males and woke women" feel safe.
Conservatives are such cowards, they're scared of their own shadow, talk about a weak character!
I think this applies for nearly everywhere on earth. I moved to Germany and the Germans talked about their crime as if it was a serious problem. Coming from the US, relatively speaking, statistically Germany is unbelievably safe. But because we remember the existence of crime far more easily than the absence of crime, because of the modern information age, and because it's so easy to be independent these days (and therefore a homebody that meets so few new people) it's easy to become fearful.
I would highly recommend everyone look up their statistical crime rates and realize how much safer the world is. That alone should quell a meaningful chunk of immigration fears imo, if the fears are rational and honest.
It also depends on who you ask in German. If it is an AfD or CSU voter, they already shit themselves when they just see brown people. Probably same case with Reform UK voters in the UK.
I just did that. My city has a crime index of 1. 100 is the safest. Whelp.
I can only find something called ‘crime index’ on Number and it's 11–83 for all cities in their DB, with 11 being the safest
I cant really show source without doxxing :/
I guess, if the source is eveb possible to find, you already did
I just find it interesting that you live in the most dangerous city on the planet, it seems. I hope you'll be alright
Then you live in a statistically unique situation compared to most people (in the western world I guess, I actually don't know the crime rates for the most populace places in the world - India and china).
Have you asked if crime is right for you? /s
Have you yourself become fearful despite a lower crime rate?
I'm not certain I understand the intent of the question but yes, totally!
I haven't told this story before but the first week I moved here I had a moment of panic. I moved to Germany with my best friend and roommate. We rented bikes to get around town and we were heading to a grocery store a ways away. We went through an industrial part of town, like warehouses and vans and workshops. Somehow we got split up, I think she took a right when I went straight, and I couldn't find her.
I rode the path google maps suggested for a bit longer, couldn't see her on the horizon, turned around and rode backwards the way we came, couldn't find her, called her, didn't answer. And in that moment I had a serious "Taken" panic. I knew Germany was incredibly safe, I'd traveled the world already, but having just moved there and feeling vulnerable, I reimagined the industrial area as scummy. What was a plumbers can was now something to kidnap people in, the graffiti on the walls which I don't mind turned into a warning signs about this place, I absolutely thought she had been kidnapped and I was going to have to explain to her parents that I lost her somewhere in a medium sized town in Germany.
So I decided to fall back on planning, if you lost your parents, be predictable, go to where they'd expect you to be. So I rode on the parrelel street over (cause I'd already covered the main street), and biked to our destination. Sure enough, she was waiting at the intersection right before the grocery store, happy as a dog on a walk. She had taken the parrelel rode after her turn all the way and didn't think about me or getting lost or nothing. Didn't check her phone, was just totally in the moment (that little shit).
And the moment I saw her, I realized what had happened emotionally to me. How American movies like "Taken" had primed me for terror, how vulnerable I felt, how not worried she was in any given moment (even if she was far more fearful than I in the big picture concepts), and how despite having traveled extensively I was ready and able to believe the worst if I suffered a personal experience irrespective of the data.
I've lived here for nearly 3 years now. Haven't had any scares like that since. A couple of city experiences that can make you feel unsafe, but nothing that made me forget and disown the data or my rational self. If I hadn't looked up the data, if I hadn't been rational, left leaning, etc I have no doubt that would have been a scarring moment despite it turning out fine. That's why I recommend everyone look at the data and challenge their fears with real world observations.
That's an encouraging anecdote.
The problem is that the crime rate is measured by suspects, so if it is not a clear switch like in your case, it doesn't help to know that the crime rate has fallen.
You also hadn't developed general fears despite a lowering crime rate. You reacted with your unaltered fear level. It's related but not the same.
I swear to God, I'm trying to understand what you mean but I'm not getting your point. What are you trying to say? What is the message you're trying to convey?
I cannot make your statements relevant to the conversation and it sounds like you're trying to make a point against crime data being powerful or correct so I'd like to understand your intent.
I would highly recommend everyone look up their statistical crime rates and realize how much safer the world is. That alone should quell a meaningful chunk of immigration fears imo, if the fears are rational and honest.
That doesn't work. There are regularly messages to the population along those lines but they don't convince because they are slightly missleading. Then the next arguments are that people don't change because they are racist. That ends the discussion. However, the numbers have to be made solid first. This doesn't happen for years which seems intentional to me.
E.g. the main number is number of suspects. Nobody takes it serious, especially about foreigners, because the police could be racist, and screen more foreigners. Maybe many were innocent and not convicted? But then, why not change the number?
I just explained how it worked for me - which means it works for some percentage of the population. I don't what media you're looking at but the overwhelming majority is fear exasperating, it's telling everyone all the time to be afraid - not that we're in the most peaceful era of existence.
I don't know what you mean by the data is misleading, you'd have to provide a specific example, because nearly every crime statistic shows Germany as incredibly peaceful and nearly ever crime statistic cannot be "slightly misleading". For instance the number of homicides in Germany in 2023 is 0.9 per 100,000. Compare that to the US which is 5.8 per 100,000, a literal 6x value, and anyone can see that Germany is 6 times safer than the US in this one category. As someone from the US that's powerful, because I lived fine in the US and now I'm even more safe. That statistic isn't slightly misleading imo. You could argue some number of homicides are going unreported or that the population numbers are way off - but you'd have to show that as a cause for only one side of the equation, something I don't believe you can.
I don't fundamentally understand your second paragraph, what do you mean "the main number is number of suspects"? The number I provided is not suspects, it's actually homicides, for example.
So I think you're wrong about:
- data not being effective at helping people fight their biases
- that the media is conveying a peaceful or accurate message consistently
- that the crime statistics, all of them, are "slightly misleading"
Don't let my remarks diminish your story. It's powerful and something to remember and to forward to other people.
the overwhelming majority is fear exasperating,
True.
I don’t know what you mean by the data is misleading
The unit is suspects, not convicts.
Compare that to the US
But people in Germany compare themselves to Switzerland and Poland.
Conservatives are driven mainly by fear so this makes sense
In this case, congrats to the people who “don’t know”. I imagine that some of them refuse to parrot the news, but also don’t have any personal experience living in London. There’s no shame in admitting that you don’t know when it’s the most accurate, honest answer you’re able to give.
Spent a quick decade in London. IMHO the biggest issue by far are kids drinking and/or doing drugs and causing trouble.
I was commuting during night a lot to work, regularly went to concerts/gigs/pubs and its not worst than any other big city as far as I can tell. With some common sense its a fairly safe destination to anyone who is not actively looking for trouble.
Actual question: is it unsafe? Last time i was in london was more than a decade ago, and other than being pretty boring(i will die on that hill) it didnt seem particularly unsafe. Tho a lot can change in a decade.
It actually has the lowest crime rate for violence against the person amongst English and Welsh police regions. It has higher-than-average homicide and total crime rates, but it's not the highest and it's comparable to other cities
No, it's pretty safe. The perception that it isn't is due (at least in part) to propaganda.
But is it safe?
Very
Been there and it is okay. It also depends on where you go and whether you look wealthy. There are however certain spots where you find pickpockets such as certain crowded tourist attractions. There are also parts of London that are generally safe.
Sounds rather unsafe to me xd
It's about as safe as Frankfurt or Berlin.
That doesn't make it better /s
Yeah this shit happens here in America. When people ask me “isn’t it violent in your city?”, I say “yes it’s horrifically violent, you shouldn’t come here”.
It could be a valid feeling if Londoners are more dangerous and prey on people from the rest of the country.
More a joke but statistically speaking, their wealth must come from somewhere.
Yeah but what do they know?