Londoners will throng to the polls this Thursday, 2nd of May, to vote in an all-crucial Mayoral election deciding the fate of the challenge-ridden city over the next four years.
For many, salvaging a global capital city rapidly transmogrifying into a haven of crime, toxic taxes, homelessness and transport disruptions since eight years of Labour party rule, will be top priority as they vote among top contenders Zöe Garbet of Green Party, Conservative Susan Hall, Liberal Democrat Rob Blackie, and incumbent Mayor and Labour Party candidate, Sadiq Khan.
Khan, the alleged former human rights attorney—for terrorists—who institutionalized two-tier policing, antisemitism, and a worrisome decline of public confidence in the Metropolitan police, is the man to beat. Over the last six months, the streets of London have become a town hall gathering for weekly antisemitic demonstrations, even as death chants and racist slurs pervade the air, accompanied by reported harassment and attacks on Jews and pro-Israeli supporters. Eight years ago, the Tooting Mayor daily groveled for the support of the Jewish population in a pretentious care for their plight. Today, the masks are off as the true Khan appears unbothered by daily chants of “death to Jews,” and “From the river to sea” in the capital city.
All over the UK, knife crime and gun violence has significantly reduced except in London. Following a worrisome 38% increase, London now experiences over 40 blade crimes daily with one in 4 Londoners now reportedly harrassed or robbed since Khan took office.
“I don’t think Sadiq Khan cares about us, ” an embittered Mr Cools, who lost his innocent son to knife crime, reacted, “the same way he takes money from poor people driving their cars, he should put that effort into ridding London of weapons.”
For Mr Cools and many bereaved Londoners, Khan has stabbed their hearts and bled their pockets with the Ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) taxes. Forcing fines on poor people unable to afford electric “green” cars is such an exploitative policy perpetrated in the name of climate change, many Londoners agree. “Khan lied in his promise not to enact ULEZ and congestion charge”, a distraught Susan Hall tackled the Mayor at the BBC debate last week; “Now he says he won’t implement a pay-per-mile tax. He’s already spent £3 million testing the system. How can we trust him?”
The Mayor wants people to ditch their cars and hop on trains and buses but this alternative is no better as zoned fares and increasing union strikes present a growing discomfort for train and bus commuters.
Khan promises a 40,000 increase in council homes by 2030. But the last eight years has seen a rather alarming increase in the construction of high-priced skyscrapers targeting wealthy Londoners and further pricing homes out of the pockets of low-income Londoners thus widening the inequality gap even further. “The city has never been this worse” a Londoner who chose to remain anonymous remarked.
Now Khan seeks another four years to fix his mess. Despite a £25 billion city hall budget, Khan believes his ability to deliver depends heavily on the possibility of a Labour Prime Minister, should Rishi Sunak lose. It’s up to Londoners to gamble on promoting collusion and forfeiting opposition checks and balances.
Ultimately whatever Sadiq Khan promises to do over the next four years, he’s already spent eight years not doing them—and that’s enough grounds to lose an election if we’re being serious.
