BLEAK YEAR AHEAD
LONDON mayor Sadiq Khan has been branded the “missing man” of the coronavirus crisis.
Shaun Bailey, thetory candidate hoping to replace Mr Khan next year, claimed Mr Khan, below, has been “absent” in the biggest disaster to hit London since the Blitz.
And in more trouble for the Labour mayor, a lockdown protest at London’s
Hyde Park yesterday turned ugly as police clashed with protesters.
Piers Corbyn, brother of ex-labour leader Jeremy, was among those led away in handcuffs from the demonstration against social distancing measures.
Mr Bailey accused the mayor of being slow to act on the virus, saying: “The impact the virus is having means you have to make many decisions very quickly.
“So I am not surprised about his inaction but what I am surprised about is just how absent he has been. It has been astonishing to me. He is the missing man in this crisis.
“The exciting thing about this level of Government is that you have a budget, you can do things.
“This is the action end of Government and you should be taking actions on behalf of London.”
In contrast, Mr Bailey pointed out his rival’s behaviour when US President Donald Trump was due to visit the UK last year.
Mr Khan had famously rallied against Presidenttrump’s visit.
Mr Bailey said: “The whole Donald Trump thing, love him or hate Donaldtrump, he is the president of America.
“That is our closest trading partner. We need to do a deal with him. He would never deal with him because he has some petty argument to make himself look good.
“This whole thing of going after Donald Trump – what for?what has it yielded for Londoners?
“Has it made my kids safer? Has it made it cheaper to live here? Has it built someone’s business? Has it given someone a job? No. It is just all done to make Sadiq Khan look good.”
Mr Bailey also attacked Mr Khan’s messages during the current crisis.
He said that if he had been mayor he would have played a much more high-profile role and focused on protecting staff in the capital.
He added: “I would also have been very clear about who in London was allowed to work. At one point, he was following the PM’S advice and then he wasn’t and caused all kinds of confusion.
“He came out of a Cobra meeting and let slip schools might be closed and caused a bit of a panic. I wouldn’t do those things.”
About three dozen activists yesterday gathered at the north end of Hyde Park, near Speakers’ Corner, with some of them brandishing banners saying “This is not about a virus, this is about control” and “No to the new abnormal”.
Flyers from a group called the UK Freedom Movement had advertised planned gatherings at locations across the UK today.
Mr Corbyn, 73, showed up with a megaphone and declined to leave when he was urged to move on by cops.the astrophysicist was then
taken away by officers.