Khan

Mayor says disinformation, including about London crime rates, is ‘eating away at basic bonds of trust’Sadiq Khan has called on ministers to take significantly stronger action against social media companies that spread disinformation after a study showed a surge in hostile accounts posting falsehoods about London’s crime rates and integration.In an intervention on what he called “the outrage economy”, the London mayor, who has also written to social media firms demanding change, said a lack of action could prompt more domestic terrorism by people who believe conspiracy theories they find online. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Capital’s mayor warns people not to use next month’s elections as a referendum on Labour’s progressUK politics live – latest updatesSadiq Khan has said he can understand why some former Labour voters are “flirting” with other parties in the run-up to May’s elections, but said that they may regret seeing a Green or Reform-led council in their areas.Speaking to the Guardian at a youth centre, where he was announcing new funding for facilities for young people, the London mayor also cautioned Labour MPs against considering a challenge to Keir Starmer, saying such “navel gazing” would be punished by the electorate. Continue reading...

Met police investigate incident, removing five officers from frontline duties after member of the public discovers items Armed police officers protecting the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, allegedly left a bag containing guns and a Taser on the street which was discovered by a member of the public.The Metropolitan police said on Friday it was investigating the incident and five officers had been removed from frontline duties while inquiries were being carried out. Continue reading...

Six teenage girls have been arrested after shops were stormed by young people earlier this week as part of social media trend Sadiq Khan has warned against any repeat of “utterly unacceptable” scenes of disorder in Clapham earlier this week, saying culprits who assault and intimidate shop workers will face the full force of the law.The mayor of London said more arrests will be made in the coming days, and urged anyone considering more violence over the Easter weekend to think again. Continue reading...

London mayor could however join the House of Lords while still remaining in his current roleAllies of Sadiq Khan have dismissed reports the London mayor could join Keir Starmer’s cabinet after being made a peer, although it remains possible he could join the Lords while keeping his current job.Downing Street said reports that Khan could become a peer after crucial elections in May across England, Scotland and Wales were “speculation”, while a Labour source also declined to comment. Continue reading...

Governing body to meet to discuss next steps over sexual abuse claims made against suspended chiefThe international criminal court’s governing body is expected to meet on Monday to assess the advice of a panel of judges who have challenged the findings of an investigation into the chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.Last year a UN inquiry into the allegations about Khan’s behaviour is understood to have established a factual basis for claims of misconduct against him. The senior British lawyer has been accused by a complainant of sexual abuse. Continue reading...

London mayor also says his party should make clear manifesto commitment on full membership in next parliamentGood morning. Shortly before the general election in 2024, Keir Starmer said he did not think the UK would rejoin the EU in his lifetime. (He is now 63.) At the time he was loath to say anything that implied the Brexit vote was a mistake. More recently, Labour has been happy to talk about the economic damage done by the leave vote, and ministers want a closer relationship with the EU, but ruling out a customs union or single market membership remain firm red lines for Labour. And even more pro-EU parties, like the Liberal Democrats, are a bit vague about when full rejoining might be an option (not least because the last thing the Brussels probably wants is another half-decade of Brexit negotiations hell).But today Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, is trying to shift the debate into a different space. In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, he has said not just that rejoining would be good in principle (which is about as far as most pro-European Labour MPs are willing to go), but that Labour should commit to rejoining in its next election manifesto.I see on a daily basis the damage Brexit has done to not just London, but Londoners, the damage economically, socially and culturally. And I’m quite clear in terms of what needs to happen, which is I do think we should join the European Union …So I think there should be a five-stage process in relation to this. Continue reading...