Susan Hall: ‘I admire Sadiq Khan for not complaining about Islamophobic hate’
Susan Hall has said she “admires” Sadiq Khan for the way he handles the “dreadful Islamophobic abuse he gets”.
The Conservative candidate for the race to lead City Hall made her comments to a business audience this week, saying the “best thing” about the mayor of London was he “doesn’t complain” about potential risks to his safety.
Speaking at a Q&A with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Thursday, Hall said: “The best thing [about Khan] and I really mean this, is the way he puts up with the dreadful Islamophobic abuse he gets, and he doesn’t complain.”
She added: “You will never hear me complain that he drives around with Land Rovers – armour plated… to keep him safe – and he has to have armed police officers with him.
“The streets of London are less safe than they ever were, but he doesn’t complain about that, and that I admire him for.”
Her answer came in response to a question by LCCI policy lead James Watkins, who led the session, on what she thought the “worst thing and the best thing” Khan had done were.
Hall then went on to criticise the mayor for “a whole list of things he’s done” and claimed the introduction of ULEZ was “one of the worst things that he’s done recently”.
The former Harrow council leader said she received emails from “people that are desperate, they cannot get to work… they don’t know how they’re going to take their child to the hospital… they cannot afford a loan for a new car”.
She continued: “He’s been told and when it went out to a consultation, it came back the people didn’t want it and he didn’t listen.
“When a mayor stops listening that is the worst thing… if you do not listen to what people are saying to you, that to me is a crime in itself.”
Hall has also faced criticism – including in an LBC interview – for liking controversial tweets including one with a picture of politician Enoch Powell who gave the racist ‘Rivers of Blood speech, and one from the commentator Katie Hopkins calling Khan ‘mayor of Londonistan’.
“The streets of London are less safe than they ever were, but he doesn’t complain about that, and that I admire him for.”
Susan Hall on Sadiq Khan
The term ‘Londonistan’ is often seen as an Islamophobic insult due to implying Muslims are taking over the capital city.
Asked during the session about the tweets, she again brushed off the criticism and said she was “sorry if it’s offended you – it was a like”.
She added that she had “never had anybody on the doorstep ever ask me about tweets” and said: “I think people get hung up on these sorts of things forever… sometimes people take offence for which we’re always sorry, but we never intended in the first place.”
At a mayor’s question time event earlier on Thursday, Khan highlighted Hall’s apparent endorsement of the term ‘Londonistan’ as he warned of the risks of inflaming tensions.
The mayor said politicians had to avoid “mainstreaming hatred” amid the protests and Jewish school closures following the attacks on Israel and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Khan’s team have been approached for comment.