When it comes to Sadiq Khan, we all agree with Donald Trump – right?
President Trump insulting Sadiq Khan comes as no surprise. That no one rushed to defend him is much more revealing, argues James Ford
We should be in the midst of a lively public discourse about Sadiq Khan’s character, intellect and performance. Ordinarily, if the leader of the free world claimed that the mayor of the UK’s largest city was “a nasty person”, a “stupid guy” and a “lousy Mayor” it would provoke heated debate. Voices would be raised. Ink would flow freely. Editorials and opinion pieces should stack up either agreeing with Trump or defending Khan. Prominent left-wing figures would take to the air waves to denounce Trump and sing the praises of their man in City Hall.
Yet, in the wake of President Trump declaring he was “not a fan” of Sir Sadiq Khan last week, there has been a deafening lack of push back. The progressive commentariat has been uncharacteristically mute. No column in The New Statesman. No editorial in The Guardian. Not even a post on lefty echo chamber Labour List. In fact, Khan’s opposition to the expansion of Heathrow Airport has generated many more column inches in recent days than the fact he has beef with The Donald.
Even beleaguered Keir Starmer, who had the misfortune to be sat next to Trump as the President laid into Sadiq Khan, could only muster the rather insipid defence: “he’s a friend of mine, actually”. Given that Starmer once proclaimed himself a friend of Jeremy Corbyn (in 2020) only to subsequently expel the former Labour leader from the party a few years later, his weasel words are unlikely to have come as much comfort at City Hall. With friends like these, indeed.
Once a media darling
Sadiq Khan used to be something of a media darling. Within six months of entering Parliament The Spectator named him Newcomer of the Year in their annual ‘Parliamentarian of the Year’ awards. In 2016 and 2017 the London Mayor was named as GQ’s ‘Politician of the Year’. A year later Matthew d’Ancona claimed Khan would be “Labour’s next PM”. So, where have all the cheerleaders for the Mayor gone? Why is nobody willing to stand up and say that Sadiq Khan is not “a nasty person”? Surely a warm, charming and generously natured individual could call on an army of colleagues, champions, confidants and comrades to stand up and speak out in their defence?
That President Trump’s second accusation – that Khan has “done a terrible job” – has also gone unchallenged is much easier to explain. Who would volunteer to defend the indefensible? The litany of policy failures on the current Mayor’s watch is well known. The latest figures show that knife crime in the capital is up by 86 per cent in the past decade (and up 58 per cent just in the three years between 2021 and 2024). Just days after Trump criticised the Mayor, Sadiq Khan was rebooting his failed housing strategy amidst data showing disappointing housing start figures and having to beg Whitehall to lower his housing targets. His growth plan is in tatters, London’s nighttime economy is in pronounced decline and he has failed to win Treasury backing for much-needed transport infrastructure. He even seems either unwilling or unable to get a grip on fare-evasion or tube graffiti. Many Londoners may not like Donald Trump or be in a position to know if their mayor is a nasty person or a bit of a thicko, but they would certainly struggle to argue that Sadiq Khan was doing anything other than a terrible job at City Hall.
When the President returns to London in September we are guaranteed more political fireworks and a further war of words. It remains to be seen, however, if anyone will be willing to speak up in Sadiq Khan’s defence.
James Ford is a former adviser to then mayor of London Boris Johnson