No more permanent school exclusions, a Young Mayor for London, expanded youth services, and a dedicated police officer for every school – this is how London’s Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate plans to tackle crime.

Siobhan Benita said young people have not been given hope under Sadiq Khan, and do not feel safe in the capital.

The former independent Mayoral hopeful, speaking at Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth today, said “something has gone horribly wrong” on the streets of London.

She said: “Every stabbing is national tragedy and horrific grief for family, friends and community.”

She added: “Enforcement is by definition always the result of failure.

“Instead we must focus on prevention. We need to wrap every child in London with hope, with opportunity, with guidance, and with love.

“My Feel Safe, Be Safe plan for Londoners will give every young person a voice, activities and the security of good schooling.”

Ms Benita said drugs reform must be at the heart of the fight against crime, promising to end the “war on drugs” and focus instead on criminal gangs.

She also pledged to reopen police stations and introduce a “happy hour” for young people, with youth groups, sports clubs, religious organisations and companies providing safe spaces for children after school.

The Liberal Democrat candidate accused Labour’s Sadiq Khan and Conservative Shaun Bailey of “wasting time on Twitter hurling insults at each other while our children lose their lives”.

She said the current Mayor has “wasted an entire mayoral term achieving almost nothing” to combat violent crime.

Her speech comes as Leroy Logan, a former Metropolitan Police superintendent who previously worked with Sadiq Khan on policing, defected to the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Logan, writing in the Mail on Sunday, revealed he was quitting the Labour party because of the Mayor’s record on crime.

He said: “It’s no surprise to me that Sadiq Khan has been such a disappointment as Mayor of London.

“We’ve seen knife crime spiralling out of control as his approach has been at odds with his policing manifesto.

“If he had taken a more collaborative approach when he became Mayor, we would not have the current rate of deaths on our streets.”

But a spokesperson for Sadiq Khan said Mr Logan’s links to the Mayor had been overstated.

He said: “Leroy Logan was a client of Sadiq’s many years ago when he was a lawyer, but not an advisor.

“The Mayor wishes him well with his new career in the Liberal Democrats, who share responsibility for the huge cuts to the police and youth services that caused the rise in violent crime in the first place.”

Shaun Bailey was not available to respond to a request for comment.