Sadiq Khan has been accused of echoing his enemy Donald Trump after he launched a highly personal ad hominem attack against top Tory Robert Jenrick. Mr Khan is under fire following a punchy viral video from the Conservative Justice Spokesman, in which he called out fare dodging on London’s tube as an example of collapsing law and order.
Mr Jenrick, who filmed himself accosting fare dodgers, said of his investigation: “Sadiq Khan is driving a proud city into the ground. Lawbreaking is out of control.” In response to the video, which secured tens of millions of views since it was published last week, the London Mayor aped Donald Trump’s strategy of personally attacking his opponent.
The London mayor said: “Fare evasion is an issue. It’s an issue for London, has been for some time and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve invested hugely in terms of not just enforcement officers, not just in terms of body-worn videos, not just in terms of CCTV, but invested in the police as well.
“What I find ironic, and it’s an example of the chutzpah of Mr Ozempic, is that he was in government when the government cut more than a billion pounds from their police budget.
“He was in government when the government removed Transport for London’s operating grant, and now he’s criticising the consequences of the cuts in policing and TfL made by his government.
“Where was he in 2010, 2024 when those cuts were being made in our policing? Where was he in 2015 when the government cut their operating grant to TfL?”
Times Radio host Rosie Wright pointed out: “I’m just surprised. You have been talking about Donald Trump and his policies. Donald Trump likes name-calling. You’ve just played the same game, haven’t you, with Robert Jenrick?”
Mr Khan responded: “Look, you asked me a question, I gave you an answer.”
His name calling follows repeated examples of rudeness from the London mayor, including accusations of sexism.
In 2023 his Conservative mayoral opponent Susan Hall said Mr Khan “clearly doesn’t like women” and is “verging” on being a misogynist.
Mr Jenrick said last week that he hopes his video on fare dodging will “shame people into action”.
Speaking to the BBC he said that antisocial behaviour on public transport, including fare dodging, graffiti and playing music outloud, are “chipping away at society”.
Explaining his reasons for making the video, Jenrick said he was “sick to death of people fare dodging” and felt he needed to “highlight the issue”.
“It’s about the authorities – in this instance Tfl or the police – not stepping up and not enforcing the rules,” he said.
“It makes most people feel silly, feel foolish. Why are they paying for their fares on the Tube when others aren’t doing so.”
He mocked TfL for complaining that his video had been a breach of their rules, while they refuse to enforce ticket buying.
