Minorities being humiliated for ‘political gain’, London mayor Sadiq Khan says
There is a “concerted attempt” to “humiliate minorities for political gain”, London’s mayor has said.
Referencing the “level of debate in public life”, Sadiq Khan also claimed the prime minister had failed properly to condemn remarks made about him by Tory MP Lee Anderson.
The former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party claimed just over a week ago that Islamists had “got control” of Mr Khan and London, while expressing concerns about “racist abuse” during pro-Palestinian marches. He has since lost the Tory whip.
Mr Khan was speaking 24 hours after a speech in Downing Street by Rishi Sunak, who said “forces at home” had been “trying to take advantage” of the human suffering caused by the Israel-Hamas war to “advance a divisive, hateful, ideological agenda”.
Mr Sunak took to the lectern outside Number 10 after the victory of George Galloway in the Rochdale by-election this week, with the prime minister saying the incoming Workers Party of Britain MP “dismisses the horror of what happened on 7 October” when Hamas killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took many more hostage.
Mr Khan, speaking to delegates at the London Labour Conference, said: “A week on from the racist, anti-Muslim and Islamophobic remarks made by a senior Tory member of parliament, and the complete failure of Rishi Sunak even as he stood outside Number 10, or anyone around him to condemn them for what they are, it’s important to say a few words about the level of debate in public life.
“What we’re witnessing is a concerted and growing attempt by some to degrade and humiliate minorities for political and electoral gain.”
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PM urges police action on Gaza protests
During some of the protests against the war in Gaza there have been chants of “from the river to the sea”, which many Jewish people consider to be antisemitic, and a call for Israel to be wiped from the map.
Streets are being “hijacked by small groups who are hostile to our values and have no respect for our democratic traditions”, the prime minister said on Friday night.
Mr Khan said that “as the poison of antisemitism and the poison of Islamophobia continues to infect our politics, now, more than ever, we need to display our best values rather than our worst fears”.
He also said that diversity is London’s “biggest strength”.
London Labour MP Dawn Butler told Sky News the Conservatives are “stoking culture wars”.
She also claimed the prime minister’s speech in Downing Street was an “abuse of his office” and such matters should happen in parliament.
Moreover, he “didn’t make any meaningful announcement”, she said, and claimed he had a “blind spot” on Islamophobia.
Meanwhile, the Campaign Against Antisemitism said that while it welcomed the prime minister’s words, “firm action is long overdue”.
It added: “That action must materialise urgently. Extremists are not simply highjacking protests, they are organising them.”
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Lee Anderson has refused to apologise for remarks he made about Sadiq Khan. Pic: PA
There are concerns that British democracy could be damaged by threats of violence.
Three female MPs have reportedly been provided with security, while a debate in parliament on Gaza was allegedly changed because of fears over MPs’ safety.
“Threats of violence and intimidation are alien to our way of doing things,” Rishi Sunak said on Friday. “They must be resisted at all times.”
He has condemned Lee Anderson’s attack on Sadiq Khan as unacceptable and “wrong”.
Lee Anderson has refused to apologise for his comments, but did describe them as “clumsy”.
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There is “no doubt” the UK “will spend 3% of our GDP on defence” in the next parliament, the defence secretary has said.
John Healey’s comments come ahead of the publication of the government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) on Monday.
This is an assessment of the state of the armed forces, the threats facing the UK, and the military transformation required to meet them.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously set out a “clear ambition” to raise defence spending to 3% in the next parliament “subject to economic and fiscal conditions”.
Mr Healey has now told The Times newspaper there is a “certain decade of rising defence spending” to come, adding that this commitment “allows us to plan for the long term. It allows us to deal with the pressures.”
A government source insisted the defence secretary was “expressing an opinion, which is that he has full confidence that the government will be able to deliver on its ambition”, rather than making a new commitment.
The UK currently spends 2.3% of GDP on defence, with Sir Keir announcing plans to increase that to 2.5% by 2027 in February.
This followed mounting pressure from the White House for European nations to do more to take on responsibility for their own security and the defence of Ukraine.
The 2.3% to 2.5% increase is being paid for by controversial cuts to the international aid budget, but there are big questions over where the funding for a 3% rise would be found, given the tight state of government finances.
While a commitment will help underpin the planning assumptions made in the SDR, there is of course no guarantee a Labour government would still be in power during the next parliament to have to fulfil that pledge.
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From March: How will the UK scale up defence?
A statement from the Ministry of Defence makes it clear that the official government position has not changed in line with the defence secretary’s comments.
The statement reads: “This government has announced the largest sustained increase to defence spending since the end of the Cold War – 2.5% by 2027 and 3% in the next parliament when fiscal and economic conditions allow, including an extra £5bn this financial year.
“The SDR will rightly set the vision for how that uplift will be spent, including new capabilities to put us at the leading edge of innovation in NATO, investment in our people and making defence an engine for growth across the UK – making Britain more secure at home and strong abroad.”
Sir Keir commissioned the review shortly after taking office in July 2024. It is being led by Lord Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and NATO secretary general.
The Ministry of Defence has already trailed a number of announcements as part of the review, including plans for a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command and a £1bn battlefield system known as the Digital Targeting Web, which we’re told will “better connect armed forces weapons systems and allow battlefield decisions for targeting enemy threats to be made and executed faster”.
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PM Sir Keir Starmer and Defence Secretary John Healey on a nuclear submarine earlier this year. Pic: Crown Copyright 2025
On Saturday, the defence secretary announced a £1.5bn investment to tackle damp, mould and make other improvements to poor quality military housing in a bid to improve recruitment and retention.
Mr Healey pledged to “turn round what has been a national scandal for decades”, with 8,000 military family homes currently unfit for habitation.
He said: “The Strategic Defence Review, in the broad, will recognise that the fact that the world is changing, threats are increasing.
“In this new era of threat, we need a new era for defence and so the Strategic Defence Review will be the vision and direction for the way that we’ve got to strengthen our armed forces to make us more secure at home, stronger abroad, but also learn the lessons from Ukraine as well.
“So an armed forces that can be more capable of innovation more quickly, stronger to deter the threats that we face and always with people at the heart of our forces… which is why the housing commitments that we make through this strategic defence review are so important for the future.”
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