London mayor backs decision to arrest anyone chanting ‘globalise the intifada’

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has backed the Metropolitan Police’s decision to arrest anyone chanting “globalise the intifada”.

Sir Sadiq told Sky News: “My message to Londoners, and those across the country, is to park for a second what the criminal law is. Do you really want your neighbours who may be Jewish, your friends who may be Jewish, your colleagues who may be Jewish, being scared? That’s what’s happened over the last three years, there’s a heightened fear among Jewish people. If you are cognisant that what you’re saying is causing concern to your neighbours, don’t say it. There are other ways to make your views heard loudly and clearly about what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Sir Sadiq refused to be drawn on whether he would run for a fourth term as mayor of London, after Laila Cunningham was unveiled as the mayoral candidate for Reform UK last week. He told Times Radio: “The last election I fought is nearer than the next one I may fight, ask me again in a year’s time… At this stage in the cycle, I never decide. I think it’s an indulgence to focus on my personal ambition rather than this city. I’m focused on this city.”

When asked if he would consider a ban on burkas, as advocated by Reform UK mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham, Sir Sadiq Khan said he “wouldn’t dream” of telling women what to wear.

Sir Sadiq told Times Radio: “In relation to burkas, or the nikab or the hijab, as a man, it’s just wrong for me to tell women what to wear or what not to wear.

“I think it’s a choice for individual women to make in relation to what they wear. I wouldn’t dream of telling women what to wear, I think they should have the freedom to choose what to wear.”