London's Muslim mayor fears for safety amid far-right riots

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he does not feel safe as a Muslim politician and was "triggered" by far-right riots across the UK in recent weeks.

Khan expressed alarm at the recent violence following the killing of three girls in Southport on 29 July, which was wrongly blamed on Muslim immigrants, and compared it to the racial tensions he experienced growing up in the 1970s and 80s.

"I'm somebody who grew up in the 1970s and 80s and experienced the National Front and the BNP and I thought that's behind us.

"Like a lot of people of my generation, I felt triggered by the events of the last couple of weeks in particular," he said in an interview with the Guardian on Thursday.

Reflecting on the events of the past 10 days, the London mayor drew a co-relation between what he had witnessed growing up and the current events.

"What's heartbreaking to me is my children's generation had never experienced what I had," he said. "And they, for the first time, were scared. I thought I'd be the last generation to be scared, simply for who I am. And it breaks my heart."

Commenting on the anti-fascist demonstrators filling the streets in London on Wednesday night, Khan said the counter-protests are a "source of pride".

However, he added there is a fear among minority communities that the wider population would read those images as an indication that the fight was over.

Many Muslims are still afraid of leaving home wearing headscarves or going to mosques, he said.

"People are thinking twice about going to the mosque, tomorrow's Friday prayers … do you take your kids with you?" he said. "Asking your boss can you work from home because you're worried about using public transport?"

Need reforms

Khan said he has often been the target of online hate including death threats and deep fake audio, much of which has been prompted in recent months by his clean air policies.

The London mayor said the disinformation spread about the alleged perpetrator of the murders of three young girls at a Southport dance club showed reform was needed to regulation.

"The way the algorithms work, the way that misinformation can spread very quickly and disinformation … that's a cause to be concerned, we've seen a direct consequence of this," he said.

"I think what the government should do very quickly is check whether the Online Safety Act is fit for purpose; I think it's not fit for purpose."

He warned that politicians were also vulnerable to disinformation and guilty of spreading false information.

"You're throwing fuel on the fire which has led to some of the stuff we've seen across the country the last week or so," he said, without pointing the finger directly.

"I find it offensive that a mainstream politician could try to use the horror and tragedy of three little girls been murdered … to promote a view they've got about society, and that's what's happened."