Labour's candidate for London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has been facing accusations of his alleged association with extremists.
It is said that between 2004 and 2013, Sadiq Khan had spoken alongside Suliman Gani on at least nine occasions, even though Gani has denounced homosexuality, gay marriage and even organ transplants, as well as called women “subservient” to men.
Gani was also reportedly named as a “supporter” by the extremist Tayyibun Institute, east London. The government has described the institute as one that “tolerates or promotes non-violent extremism”.
Khan and Gani allegedly first shared a platform in August 2004, for an event organised by Stop Political Terror, a radical group. It was revealed by The Sunday Times that Khan had spoken at at least four events organised by Stop Political Terror.
Deputy director of the anti-extremism think tank Henry Jackson Society, David Lewin said, “Gani has campaigned on behalf of convicted terrorists, appeared at events designed to undermine government counter-radicalisation strategies, including sharing platforms with a pro-terrorist organisation such as Cage, and is said to hold repugnant views about women and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans community. Given that the UK, and London in particular, is major target for Islamist-inspired terrorist attacks, it is intolerable to see any politician, much less one seeking such a vitally important office as mayor of London, associate with an individual such as this. Mr Khan's repeatedly sharing a platform with this man, whose views are widely available, is deeply alarming.”
Sadiq Khan's spokesperson revealed that Khan was attacked by Gani on Twitter as he supported gay marriage. The spokesperson also mentioned that the Tory candidate for mayor, Zac Goldsmith, was also present at a meeting in November 2015, with Muslims leaders.
The spokesperson said, “These Tory attacks are getting really desperate- this man was with Zac Goldsmith at an event organised by the Tories just a few months ago. Sadiq has always spoken out against the vile people who promote extremism and radicalisation and has laid out a real plan to tackle these problems as mayor of London.”
