Sadiq Khan praises ‘progressive London’ as Trump renews attacks
Following a fresh wave of criticisms from US President Donald Trump, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has praised the capital as a successful progressive city and the greatest in the world.
In a recent interview with GB News, Donald Trump launched a fresh wave of attacks against London and its Mayor, making the bizarre claim that London is now so dangerous “people are being stabbed in the ass”.
Trump focussed his criticisms on Khan, calling him a “terrible mayor” and pointing to the crime in London as an indication of his poor performance.
This criticism comes despite the city’s most recent homicide statistics showing that London has posted its lowest number of murders on record, with significant drops in teenage and young adult homicides, as well as a general decline in violent crime in the city.
Following Trump’s comments, Khan wrote an article for LBC where he praised London as a crowning success in building progressive capital city.
“… when some politicians and commentators talk down London – spreading lies and sowing division – it hurts, for all those who know and love this city,” Khan said.
“Because if you walk our streets, you’ll know how baseless their criticisms are. It’s not ‘lawless’. There is no Shariah law. So why the relentless negativity?”
“I can only imagine they don’t like our city because it’s an engine of social progress. A place that truly values diversity, inclusion, equality and opportunity – and is a shining success because of it,” he said.
The US President’s latest assault on London and its Mayor come as Khan is delivering a keynote speech to open London Life Sciences Week, a week-long conference that showcases the life sciences sector of the city,
In his keynote address, Khan said that London was the best city in the world in which to live, study, work, or launch a business.
“We boast the financial centre of New York, the enterprise and imagination of Silicon Valley, and the policymakers of Washington – all within a 15-minute tube ride,” Khan said.
“We are the most globally connected place on Earth. Regularly voted the world’s favourite city and home to first-rate universities and research institutes, that attract brilliant minds from around the world, and are at the cutting-edge of discovery and invention.”
He again focussed on the benefits of the city’s progressive engine, contrasting it with the hostility and misinformation rife in other places in the world.
“Whilst elsewhere in the world, we are seeing the rejection of truth, outright hostility towards science, and the gutting of vital research funding, here in London we remain unwavering in our values,” Khan said.
“We are, and will always be, unashamedly pro-science, pro-innovation, and pro-progress.”
