Sadiq Khan was a 'racist abuse victim' and tells Londoners to report incidents

'Report incidents': Sadiq Khan said he was a victim in his youth
Matt Writtle
Hannah Al-Othman2 July 2016

Sadiq Khan has encouraged Londoners to report all incidents of race hate, admitting he failed to do so when he was racially abused in his youth.

Taking questions from the public in his first State of London Debate, the Mayor was responding to comments about a rise in racially-motivated incidents since Britain voted to leave the EU last week.

Mr Khan told the audience at London's O2 Arena, that in times of difficulty "the easiest thing to do is to blame 'the other', the immigrant", and said it was the role of politicians to provide the solutions.

He also called on Londoners to be "good friends and neighbours" by reporting any incidents they witness - and not just leaving it up to victims to report crimes.

The Mayor also stressed the importance of eradicating "offensive playground name-calling", saying it can escalate to more serious race hate.

Branding hate crime and racism "unacceptable" Mr Khan said Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe had made the issue a police priority, and officers would be taking a zero-tolerance approach to any reported incidents.

Mr Khan said: "We as a society can't allow anyone to suffer in silence. Bernard Hogan-Howe, me, the police won't allow that ot happen.

"So please report it, and we will make sure we stamp that out."

Police has seen a spike in reported incidents of racially-motivated crime, since the Brexit vote on Thursday.

Xenophobic graffiti was sprayed across a Polish community centre in Hammersmith, while elsewhere in London an eight-year-old Polish girl was abused by classmates, and German-made cars were vandalised with swastikas and graffiti.

During tonight's debate, the Mayor also faced questions on the Garden Bridge project, the Night Tube, restricting numbers of private hire vehicles, and freezing transport fares during the debate, which was broadcast live on LBC and on Facebook.

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