INTERVIEW Sir James Cleverly: The Mayor of London has failed the Jewish community over security fears

Conservative mayoral hopeful James Cleverly has accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of failing to respond effectively to concerns repeatedly raised by the Jewish community about their safety on the capital’s streets.

Speaking to Jewish News, the Lewisham, south London-born former Tory cabinet minister insisted that when Khan was first elected Mayor in 2016, party politics aside, he also believed having a Muslim in the role sent a “powerful message” about the capital’s diversity.

But a decade later, and with the divisive impact of the war in Gaza still evident in London, Cleverly now says: “So the mayor must be, not should be, or could be, must be, absolutely must be, a mayor for all the communities and all the geographies in London.

Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

“And for me, when one of the communities in London, when the Jewish community in London, says, over and over again, we do not feel safe, the mayor is duty bound to do something about that.”

While accepting that Khan has regularly “said all the right things”, Cleverly adds, “words are one thing, actions are another. “

He continued: “Actions matter. I don’t think the mayor has been as responsive to concerns from the Jewish community as he should have been.

“Now, I also know, sadly, in this era of very polarised politics there are many, many people, many Muslim Londoners, who also feel very intimidated and scared, because this whole situation has generated a huge amount of division.

“But supporting Muslim Londoners shouldn’t come at the expense of supporting Jewish Londoners. You must do both. And I think the mayor has not been as active on both sides of the equation.”

We meet for our interview in Hendon, north London, after a visit Sir James made to see Community Security Trust leaders and to meet with a group of local councillors.

With his past track record as a former Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary in the last Tory government, the 57 year-old politician is on familiar terms with many Jewish communal leaders, including those at the CST.

In a move which may have surprised many but not all political observers, Cleverly announced in August he was stepping down as shadow housing secretary and left Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet to campaign freely from the backbenches and focus entirely on the mayoral contest, with elections to be held in 2028.

He also announced he will not stand for his current seat of Braintree at the next general election. He is seeking the Conservative nomination against rival candidates including Westminster councillor Festus Akinbusoye and businessman Alex Challoner.

Reform UK has selected Laila Cunningham to run, while the incumbent Labour Mayor, Sir Sadiq, has not yet confirmed whether he will run for an unprecedented fourth term.

What becomes apparent as we speak over coffee in a cafe in busy Brent Street is Cleverley’s clear determination to position himself as a “liberal Conservative” and someone hopeful, if selected as seems likely, as the party’s mayoral candidate, to pick up votes from life-long Labour Party voters living in the capital as well.

Some might argue it’s a positioning that makes him perfectly suited to pick up sizable support from many in London’s Jewish community as well.

 

Asked for his overall critique of Mayor Khan’s time so far in office, Cleverly speaks of friends of his who were initially excited when the Labour mayor was elected.

“Then those same people, you know, you fast forward a decade, and those same people, like, they’re not furious with him, they’re just disappointed,” he observes.

“I think that’s what it is…. So many missed opportunities, things that he could have done and should have done, that haven’t been done,” he adds.

“Where’s the dynamism? 
Where’s the buzz? You see, London’s night time economy is just gently slipping. We see primary schools merging and closing. Young people can’t afford to live in London.

“Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking things is when I talk to people, and London’s reputation as being a safe city, I think, is being lost.”

Later, Cleverly says he is well aware that there are some in the Jewish community who, after 14 years of the last Tory government, and after two years of a Labour one, have had enough of promises and pledges from both mainstream parties. Some of whom have now drifted rightwards to become supportive of the tougher rhetoric coming out of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party.

“I don’t have the right to demand votes or support from anybody or any community,” he reflects ” I know that I’m going to have to earn people’s support. I’m more than willing to do so.

“What I would say is that just be very careful of people promising simple answers to complicated problems.”

 

Of his own record as a cabinet minister, he adds: I’m very proud of the work that I’ve done regarding funding for security to Jewish schools and Jewish communities, from when I was Home Secretary.

“I’ve always been very vocal in my support for the community organisations that help Jews stay safe in London.”

But he also accepts:” You know, trust is easily lost, and is hard to win back.”

When discussing further the impact the regular pro-Palestine demos have had on some Jews living in the capital over the past three years.

Another failing of Mayor Khan, he believes, is his failure to have the sort of conversations he says he had with police chiefs over elements of the pro-Palestine protests that were “demonstrably antisemitic” and “celebrating murder.”

Cleverly recalls having conversations with Sir Mark Rowley, who he says he knows well and “respects highly”, about clamping down on those “celebrating the murder of Jews in Israel”.

“I had those conversations, and frankly, those conversations the Mayor should have had,” he says.

But in a sign of Cleverly’s more liberal political leanings, he also explains why he has not joined those calling for an outright ban on the pro-Palestine marches.

“I am not a big fan of banning stuff,” he says. “For me, you know, for outright bans, the bar needs to be set quite high. “

But he continues: “I do question why there need to be so many marches. I do question, and as I say, I have questioned the behaviour of several people who are on those demos, but banning them outright, for me – I’m not saying I never would, but for me, the bar is set pretty high, and I want to make sure that we, you know, we look at other options, whether it be static, whether it be with a distinct named organiser, there are things that.

“There are things that I think the Mayor could and should have done. so that these protests were less intimidating to the Jewish community. “

 

Cleverly is also keen to outline his position on Israel. “Look, Israel remains a really important international partner,” he says. ” I am completely committed to Israel’s right to exist.

“I am also, and I’ve done this privately, I’ve done this publicly, I’ve done it as a foreign office minister, and I’ve done it since leaving government -I have been critical of a number of the decisions made by the Israeli government.

“For example, settlement expansion, I think, is deeply counterproductive to Israel’s economic and security interests.

“And I have called on the Israeli government to take a much, much firmer action on illegal settlement expansion, and particularly on the violent behaviour of some of the people in the settler movement. 
I have said that, and I will continue to do so. ”

Asked if he backed the Labour government’s introduction of sanctions on Israel over West Bank settlements, he is equally forthright.

“What we have seen is that they’ve been completely counterproductive,” he argues.

” These are decisions that I looked at when I was at the Foreign Office, when I was at the Home Office.

“And the question I’d always ask is… What outcome are we seeking to achieve? So, if the UK government’s position was to prevent those settlement expansions, particularly the expansion into the areas that would make it either difficult or perhaps impossible to have a credible Palestinian state on the West Bank, has it dissuaded the Israeli government from doing that?

“No, it hasn’t. What has happened, of course, is that it has triggered a response from the Israeli government. I’m not going to defend that response. No.

“But the point is, this should have been at least considered. It triggered a response from the Israeli government, which basically massively hampered the UK’s presence in East Jerusalem and on the West Bank. That is counterproductive to Palestinian interests.”

But Cleverley is also only too aware of how foreign policy issues around Israel have come to further impact on Jews living in London.

” It is totally inappropriate to blame Jews in Britain for the decisions made by the government in Israel,” he says, attacking what he views as “an old and lazy prejudice that every Jew in Britain has got, like, split loyalties, or somehow is somehow more focused on Israel than their own local community. “

“I think it’s completely wrong,” he adds. “
And drives, sadly, a lot of the intimidation and violence directed towards Jews in London. My message is very, very clear.

“Everyone has a right to live in peace and security in London, irrespective of your faith, and that will absolutely be one of my key priorities.”

But if elected as mayor, Cleverly says his campaign is not promising “an overnight fix, and it’s not about silver bullet solutions, and it’s not about making hollow promises.”

“As seductive as some of the messages coming out of, whether it be Reform or the Greens, or whatever, ultimately, this election, in May 2028, is gonna boil down to the choice between more of the same, from Labour, who I think have not really delivered for London over the last decade. Or a change.”

Would he be comfortable working, probably, with PM Andy Burnham? “Of course,” he replies. “When I was Home Secretary, and he was Mayor of Manchester, we worked together perfectly,” he recalls.

Cleverly has also previously said him being elected as Mayor of London is the best possible sign that Kemi Badenoch has high hopes of entering No.10 in any election in 2029.

But he says he’s been more than happy standing up for London, “whoever’s in Number 10. “

“My priority is going to be really simple,” says Cleverly. “The question I will always ask myself is, how do I make London safe? And how do I make this a city that’s both aspirational and affordable?

“How do we make this a city that we can all be proud of?”