London Eye namecheck for Khan derided as an ‘ego trip’
LONDON’S New Year’s Eve firework display has been described as an “ego trip” for Sadiq Khan after a message referencing the capital’s mayor introduced the display.
Sunday night’s display, organised by Mr Khan and themed to celebrate the capital’s diversity, began with a 20-second message that said: “The Mayor of London presents...”
The message was formed in the night sky using light-emitting drones, and political rivals accused Mr Khan of making the 13-minute display, funded by the British taxpayer, about himself.
Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for the London mayoral election, said: “The New Year’s fireworks celebration belongs to the people, not Sadiq Khan.
“The only things he has presented in his eight years as mayor is soaring crime and an unfair Ulez expansion tax that targets the poorest. We cannot have another four years of this man and his ego making life worse for Londoners. In May, I will deliver a better and brighter future for our city.”
Matthew Goodwin-freeman, a Conservative councillor for Hatch End, in north-west London, said: “They’re OUR fireworks, Mr Mayor, not yours. Talk about an ego trip.”
Howard Cox, Reform UK’S mayoral candidate, said the New Year’s Eve spectacle “should not be a platform for a political agenda from such a despised mayor”.
When the display began, another message was beamed into the sky saying “London: a place for everyone”, before a narrator read the Shakespeare quote: “What is the city but the people,” adding: “Welcome to London”.
The voiceover, heard by television viewers as well as those along the South Bank who were viewing the display live, featured multiple different languages and said it was time to “look back at 2023”.