New Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called Donald Trump ‘ignorant’

Throughout his campaign for mayoralty of London, Labour candidate Sadiq Khan carefully swerved the politics of hate.

Furthermore, after being sworn in as the new mayor, one of his first appointments was a Holocaust memorial ceremony, which he attended alongside Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis. He is making it clear he has no time for the divisive rancour that has been ascribed to some elements of the Labour party and elsewhere.

He is also making it clear he has no time for American politician Donald Trump. Trump has previously suggested there ought to be an embargo on Muslim visitors to the States. Though at the weekend, several commentators pointed out that as well as being a flagrantly racist policy, it would also outlaw the new Mayor of London – a man who now has the third largest political mandate of any politician in Europe.

When the New York Times asked about whether this policy would apply to Khan, Trump retorted, “there will always be exceptions”.

To this, Khan has said, “This isn’t just about me – it’s about my friends, my family and everyone who comes from a background similar to mine, anywhere in the world”. Khan says that a proposed embargo “risks alienating mainstream Muslims around the world and plays into the hands of the extremists… Donald Trump’s ignorant view of Islam could make both our countries less safe.

“Trump and those around him think that western liberal values are incompatible with mainstream Islam – London has proved him wrong.”