Sadiq Khan calls Tories unpatriotic for ‘trying to do London down’

Sadiq Khan has called the Conservatives’ treatment of London “unpatriotic” as he accused the government of putting obstacles in his way every day of his eight years running the capital.

In an interview with the Guardian, Khan said he hoped for a better working relationship with a Labour government despite differences of opinion on key issues including Brexit and rent controls.

Khan, who is up for re-election on Thursday for a historic third term, said the Tory candidate, Susan Hall, was the most “dangerous” Conservative opponent he had faced after it emerged she had joined a Facebook group containing Islamophobic hate speech and abusive comments about him.

Khan suggested the Conservative party was “testing” whether their tactics in London – a lunge to the right with closed Facebook groups, YouTube and Instagram attack ads, and paid direct mail – could be used at the general election.

He defended UK Labour’s focus on winning back voters it lost in the 2019 general election wipeout even though it could cost him some progressive support, after the party faced some internal unrest over the dominant use of the union flag in campaign material.

Khan denied the outcome of the London race was a fait accompli even though the polls have given him a consistently strong lead over Hall, with YouGov this week putting him .