Sadiq Khan has spoken out about the abuse he receives as London Mayor after a video of him being hounded went viral last weekend.
Talking to LBC the Labour politician said he is on the receiving end of taunts “more often than other politicians” and that in one instance he was confronted with a mock guillotine.
“It upsets his wife and daughters in ways that I cannot describe”, Khan said, adding that the only reason he accepted police protection because of the resulting threat posed by the abuse to his family and staff.
Black cab protest
Last weekend despicable footage of Khan been hounded with abuse surfaced on social media today.
The London Mayor was greeted with “black cab lives matter” and “you c*nt” as he walked by Tower Bridge.
David Lammy tweeted “in what world is it acceptable to speak to anyone like this while doing their job?” shortly after the clip was posted by Councillor Chowdhury, adding:
“No one in public or private life deserves this despicable abuse.”
Others blamed racist behaviour that has become “commonplace in Britain because it is emboldened by a racist government which runs on the fumes of far right rhetoric”.
"Black c*nt lives matter"
— Councillor K Chowdhury (@khayerc) September 11, 2020
"You c*nt"
Listen to their aggression. Listen to their hate.
If you ever wonder why the Mayor of London needs 24-hour police protection.
Without the protection officers there with him, he would have gotten attacked in this instance. pic.twitter.com/kgRa6kGsce
Cobra
During the interview Khan also said that Cobra hasn’t met since May 10th and that he has not had any contact with the Prime Minister since then.
He also said “he is not happy” with the congestion charge being extended to weekends and raised to £15 a day, but if he had refused the Government would have pulled the £1.6 billion bailout necessary because of TfL’s drop in revenue.
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