Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

British Home Secretary Attacks Muslim Labor’s Candidate for London Mayor | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page
Media ID: 55349578
Caption:

The candidate for Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan


London-The British Home Secretary Theresa May attacked on Tuesday the Muslim candidate for London Mayor, Sadiq Khan and accused him of having links to extremists.

Mrs. May expressed her concern saying: “I worry when I see Sadiq Khan in contortions over whether Babar Ahmad, a man subsequently convicted of conspiracy and providing material to support terrorism, was a friend of his or not; when I see that he has shared a platform with a group backed by an extremist imam; when I see that he defended someone threatening “fire throughout the world.”

Current London Mayor Boris Johnson joined Mrs. May to criticize the candidate over his past and said: “Sadiq Khan has shared platforms, to put it at its mildest, with some pretty dodgy people with some pretty repellent views in the United Kingdom.”

For her part, spokeswoman for Khan told Asharq Al-Awsat that the statements attack Muslims who represent the major bloc, such as Khan.

She added that Khan always speaks against terrorism and violence, and he has been threatened several times to be killed by Muslim extremists due to his beliefs and opinions, which contradict theirs.

The spokeswoman confirmed that fighting extremism in Britain has become a harsh battle since conservatives are attacking Muslims who represent the major parties in the country.

Mr Khan warned that his conservative rival’s campaign, Zac Goldsmith, was “putting the unity of our city at risk”.

He said: “Zac Goldsmith is running a desperate dog-whistle campaign because he has nothing positive to say about the future of our city.”
Khan said he was “disappointed” by the tone of his opponent, amid accusations Mr Goldsmith is running a racist campaign.

On the other hand, Goldsmith faced the hardest phase in his electoral campaign when the latest polls showed that Khan extended his lead among first preference votes to eight points over him.

With less than a month to go until Londoners choose their next mayor, Labor candidate Sadiq Khan is holding onto his lead in the latest polls.

An opinion survey for the London “Evening Standard” predicts that a run-off between the two main candidates would result in a win of 54 percent for Khan and a 46 percent share of the vote for Goldsmith as the elections will take place on the 5th of May.

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon claimed that Khan was “unfit” to be Mayor because he “speaks alongside extremists”.

The minister said the first duty of a Mayor was to unite the city and back the security forces against terrorist threats.

He added: “My priority as Defense Secretary is to give our armed forces what they need to protect our people and our territory, here at home and overseas, now and into the future”.