Several foreign governments have updated their travel advice for the UK due to a significant rise in crime. In 2024, around 9.6 million major crimes, such as theft, fraud, robbery, and violence, were recorded, marking a 14% increase from the previous year, largely due to rising fraud and theft.
Australia raised its travel risk level for the UK from Level 1 to Level 2. Its Smart Traveller site now advises citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution” in Britain, noting that “petty crime is common, including pickpocketing,” and warning about thieves who use “scooters and bicycles to snatch belongings.” The site also explains that Level 2 “may reflect a weak law-and-order system, where violent crime is common,” and adds the UK “may lack some key public services, such as a responsive police force.”
Other countries, including France, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, and the UAE, have also issued UK travel advisories. Tourists are especially warned to stay alert in London, where mobile phone theft is rampant. The Metropolitan Police reports that one phone is stolen every six minutes in the capital.
The UAE embassy warns of a “recent increase in violence and knife crime” in London, including attacks on “citizens of Arab Gulf states.” It advises Emirati travellers to “take special care, especially at night, and avoid wearing valuable items that attract attention in public places.”
In response, London Mayor Sadiq Khan introduced a new London Police and Crime Plan in March. The four-year strategy aims to partner with the Labour government “to strengthen neighbourhood policing in London so that more officers are in the heart of communities to crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour.”
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Mobile phone theft in the UK has reached alarming levels, with insurance provider SquareTrade Europe revealing that Britain now accounts for 40% of all handset thefts across the continent. According to their data, claims have soared by 425 per cent since mid-2021. Metropolitan Police statistics show a phone is stolen every six minutes in London, adding up to around 80,000 thefts per year.
Violent crimes have also increased by 30 per cent under Sadiq Khan’s leadership, while the Home Office recently reported a 44 per cent rise in street crime nationwide, record-high shoplifting, and one million incidents of anti-social behaviour.
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