Sadiq Khan: The Dark Side Of The Police. How Safe Are We REALLY? | E216

Let's be frank. Donald Trump was obsessed with me. If the mayor of London wasn't somebody of my background, my faith, he wouldn't have responded the way he did, would he? Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan is the first Muslim mayor.

Has made some powerful opponents. And the new image of Britain's multicultural society. The mayor is with us. Do you think London's safe?

Uh, uh, well, we've reduced homicides, knife crime, gun crime.

I don't think people feel safe in London.

I'm not excusing it, I'm explaining it. It has to come, consequences.

There's been a lot of instances of police officers who have attacked, raped women and girls on the streets of London. What are you doing about that?

We're doing it now.

How?

I've been criticized for this.

Since you were elected mayor, what are the things you look at and go, "Do you know what? I failed there."

Well, that's a good question, but I'm running for re-election in 467 days time. I'm not going to answer that question honestly because the answer's going to be used against me.

You can't tell the truth because someone might use it against you?

I think most MPs have got to be inauthentic. I'll tell you why, because...

What's been your hardest day as London mayor?

There's been a few.

At least 58 people were killed in the fire at Grenfell Tower.

I, I, I still remember the images. I still remember the heat. You know, one family, six people wiped out and a number of terror attacks in London, London Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Finsbury Park. I went to a lot of funerals. That summer was hard. Yeah.

I just want to start this episode with a message of thanks. A thank you to everybody that tunes in to listen to this podcast. By doing so, you've enabled me to live out my dream, but also for many members of our team to live out their dreams too. It's one of the greatest privileges I could never have dreamed of or imagined in my life to get to do this, to get to learn from these people, to get to have these conversations, to get to interrogate them from a very selfish perspective, trying to solve problems I have in my life. So, I feel like I owe you a huge thank you for being here and for listening to these episodes and for making this platform what it is. Can I ask you a favor? I can't tell you how much, um, you can change the course of this podcast, the, the course of the guests we're able to invite to the show, and to the course of everything that we do here just by doing one simple thing. And that simple thing is hitting that subscribe button. Helps this channel more than I could ever explain. The guests on this platform are incredible because so many of you have hit that button. And I know when we think about what we want to do together over the next year on this show, a lot of it is going to be fueled by the amount of you that are subscribed and that tune into this show every week. So, thank you. Let's keep doing this. And I can't wait to see what this year brings for this show, for us as a community, and for this platform. (instrumental music plays) Sadiq, give me your context. I, I spent a long time reading through your backstory, and I think it's an im- especially important place to start, because it appears to be much of your, your reason for being and your reason for doing. So, can you take me right back? Um, I want to hear about Pakistan. I want to hear about your, your earliest years in London.