Why Khan said yes to security
MAYOR’S REMARKS COME AMID ATTACKS ON FEMALE POLITICIANS
LONDON mayor Sadiq Khan has revealed that he needs 24-hour security protection due to the level of racist threats he faces.
Khan, a practising Muslim and the son of a Pakistani bus driver, told the Labour party’s conference in Brighton last week that he had initially dismissed having a security detail in 2016.
However, he later accepted police protection when he was warned about the risk to those around him – including his family and his staff – if he declined, the Telegraph reported.
Khan revealed that counselling was given to his staff because of the racist vitriol directed at him from letters and emails he received.
His remarks came after he faced criticism for driving in a convoy of three cars from his home to Battersea Park, a journey of 4.5 miles, to take his dog for a walk, the newspaper added.
The travel arrangement was made on police advice, Khan said, adding that press coverage about his security “leads to people then sending threatening emails”.
According to him, 15 police officers are keeping him safe “around the clock”.
Khan added, “You can’t do anything spontaneously. Riding a bike to work, which I do often, is different for me than for you. Using the Tube, which I do, is different for me than for you. Going for a jog... it’s hard. Having sniffer dogs in your house is not fun. Not being able to answer your door is hard.”
Khan added he had kept quiet about the security arrangements because he did not want to put others off from entering politics.
He said he had been inspired by the response to the racist abuse England footballers got after the Euro 2020 finals in the summer.
“The way Marcus Rashford, [Jadon] Sancho, [Bukayo] Saka have talked about it, and the response has given me so much hope. It’s given me the confidence to talk about it,” Khan said.
His admission coincided
(below) with an attack on Labour MP Tuliq Siddiq, whose car was vandalised last week.
The British Bangladeshi, who represents Hampstead and Kilburn, said the attack occurred last Thursday (30) outside her family home.
The MP’s car window was smashed and a message written on the roof. Although Siddiq declined to reveal what it said, she told the Guardian: “The wording made it clear that it was a targeted attack. I’m not going to be intimidated, I’m not going to stop doing my job. It has to stop, but at the end of the day I’m not going to give in. As soon as I saw the car I just thought, ‘I don’t know what you guys are trying to achieve – you’ve underestimated me.’”
She said she has received support from across the Labour party following the attack, but said the level of intimidation that women face “has got to stop”.
“Women are targeted because of the jobs they do, because they’re in the public eye and, in light of everything that’s happened with the Sarah Everard case, it really feels like we need a cultural change,” said Siddiq.
However, she is not the only female politician who has been subjected to abusive or threatening behavior.
The car of Oldham council leader Arooj Shah was firebombed in July. Shah, the town’s first female Muslim leader, said she felt traumatised by the incident.
Despite this, she forced herself to attend a council meeting the next day.
“That is an example of me feeling that sense of duty to prove myself to people,” she said. “That [they] don’t think I’m weak because I’m a woman. Don’t think I don’t care, because I do. But also see past the colour of my skin and understand that I am here to do a job [and] you expect far more from me than you would if I was a white man. And that can be really mentally exhausting.”
Since the attack, three men have been arrested but have been released, pending further inquiries.