US president Donald Trump has claimed London wants to impose sharia law, prompting the city’s mayor Sir Sadiq Khan to hit back at his “appalling and bigoted” comments.
In an address to the United Nations General Assembly, Mr Trump made the unfounded claim as he launched an attack on Sir Sadiq – without mentioning his name – over immigration and carbon-reduction policies.
The president said: “I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it's been changed, it’s been so changed.
“Now they want to go to sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can’t do that.
“Both the immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of western Europe if something isn’t done immediately. This cannot be sustained.”
Some members of the assembly meeting in New York groaned when the president began attacking “uncontrolled migration”.
A spokesperson for the mayor said: “We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.
“London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.”
We pray for Mr Trump’s health and wellbeing as his hallucinations seem to be getting worse by the day
The spokesperson said the national US murder rate was vastly higher than that of London, at 68 in a million of the population against 9.8 per million in London.
Mr Trump also accused the UN of “funding an assault on Western countries and their borders”.
“Europe is in serious trouble. They have been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody's ever seen before,” he said.
Health secretary Wes Streeting denied the mayor was trying to impose sharia law on London.
He wrote on social media: “@SadiqKhan is not trying to impose sharia law on London.
“This is a mayor who marches with Pride, who stands up for difference of background and opinion, who’s focused on improving our transport, our air, our streets, our safety, our choices and chances.
“Proud he’s our mayor.”
A spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain said: “We pray for Mr Trump’s health and wellbeing as his hallucinations seem to be getting worse by the day.”
Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq described Mr Trump’s comments as “blatant bare-faced lies”, while Rosena Allin-Khan, Sir Sadiq’s successor as MP for Tooting, called for the US ambassador to be summoned over the remarks.
Sir Sadiq and Mr Trump have a history of political hostility. Last week Mr Trump said he did not want Sir Sadiq at the state banquet hosted by the King at Windsor Castle during his state visit.
The mayor had accused the US president of “fanning the flames of divisive politics” around the world.
Mr Trump clashed with Sir Sadiq during his first state visit to the UK in 2019.
