London mayoral debate: Shaun Bailey savages Sadiq Khan over crime

London – The debate, on BBC London last night, also saw the pair go head-to-head on the pandemic, transport, air quality and council tax

The gloves came off during the first TV debate of the race for City Hall — with the two main contenders trading blows over lockdown and crime.

Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey said Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan had “absolutely failed” to reduce crime and the streets were “not safe” for women or black Londoners. Mr Khan accused his rival of being a “lockdown sceptic”.

The debate, on BBC London last night, saw the pair go head-to-head on the pandemic, transport, air quality and council tax. Mr Khan said Mr Bailey was “talking down London” while he was “standing up for London”. Mr Bailey said only he could provide a “fresh start”.

Mr Bailey said the Mayor “went missing” at the start of the pandemic and sowed “confusion” in the minds of many Londoners about whether it was safe to use public transport — worsening the hit to the capital’s economy.

He accused the Mayor of “flip-flopping” over lockdown and said: “He needs to look people in the eye and tell them where their jobs have gone.”

Mr Khan’s aides said his strongest line of attack, based on social media reactions, was on Mr Bailey’s past comments on minority groups in London. Mr Khan accused his main rival of “encouraging people to go to work when it wasn’t safe to do so” and pointed to the 18,000 Londoners to die in the pandemic.

Asked by presenter Tim Donovan whether he respected Mr Bailey, Mr Khan replied: “I’ve got to be honest – some of the things Shaun has said about Eid, about Diwali, about women, about girls, about multiculturalism, about those who receive benefits, I get deeply upset by.

“They’re not my values, they’re not London’s values and I hope Londoners reject those values on May 6.”

Source – https://www.standard.co.uk/

Today experts told the Standard that both candidates showed strengths and weaknesses, as the rival camps claimed victory.