Why on earth did London’s decoloniser-in-chief accept a knighthood? Sadiq Khan is a hypocrite — Carole Malone

Khan also claimed he’d cleaned up London’s air, which was a lie as peer-reviewed reports have proved he hasn’t. And let’s face it, if he were so bothered about London’s air, he wouldn’t be driving around in a big posh, polluting Chelsea tractor.

The man’s been an abject failure as London’s mayor, yet still he gets rewarded for his failure and his incompetence. As for King Charles apologising to him that it’s taken so long to give him a gong – what the hell was he thinking?

Doesn’t he know what people think of Khan? That a majority have no respect for him and see him as the man who has destroyed London?

Doesn’t Charles see the harm that’s been inflicted on our once great capital city since he’s been in charge? Or is he so protected, so cosseted from what’s happening on the streets that he doesn’t see London’s decline?

He doesn’t see the fear and crime on the streets, the lack of proper policing, the fact that communities have been smashed up and splintered in the name of multiculturalism? What the hell is he thinking?

Does he not understand what people think of Khan? I’m desperately trying to think of reasons why Khan would be afforded this honour, and all I can come up with is that it’s a bit of political box ticking? And if it is, then it makes a mockery of the whole Honours system and all those people who have done extraordinary things to deserve their gongs.

Because Khan has done nothing to deserve it. He is the poster boy for failure, and bestowing this honour upon him has devalued it for everyone else. We’re told he was given his knighthood for “political and public service”. What public service?

London has become a violent cesspit under him. I’ve lived in the city for thirty years, and I’ve never met a single person who voted for him or even likes him. He’s universally despised not just because he’s an arrogant, pompous human being but because he’s pretty damn useless at his job.

People are quite rightly screaming that this is a reward for failure, and yes, it is. But more than that, knighting Khan makes a mockery of what the honours system is all about – honouring success.

As for those who say he keeps getting voted in, so he must be okay. No, he isn’t. He keeps getting voted in for the simple reason that the Tories never put anyone decent up against him. Last time it was a perfectly nice woman called Susan Hall, who did rightly accuse Khan of not accepting responsibility for London’s failings.

The trouble is that no one had ever heard of her, and so they didn’t turn out to vote for her. They just stayed at home, and Khan limped to victory. If the Tories had put up a “Boris” character against him, he’d have been out before his little feet had touched the ground. But surely the real question here is why on earth has Khan accepted this knighthood?

This is the bloke who’s forever banging on about decolonising London and offering £25,000 grants (of our money) to neighbourhoods who want to change their street names.

He’s also spent a lot of time slating the national curriculum on the grounds that it covers British history from a colonial point of view. So why has he accepted an honour that reeks of colonialism? I’ll tell you why because he’s an unutterable snob whose principles and beliefs were quickly swept under the altar of his own personal advancement. Khan might be a little man, but his ego is gargantuan, and so he had absolutely no problem accepting an honour which will help him slither up high society’s greasy pole.

Khan’s so-called principles have been bought by a title which will allow him to strut around feeling he’s something special and afford him the kind of privileges that the people he’s supposed to represent can only dream about. “It’s a truly humbling moment for myself and my family,” said Khan after the ceremony at Windsor Castle.

HAH! There are a lot of words that could be used to describe Sadiq Khan, but humble aint one of them. People would have had more respect for him if he’d stuck to his so-called principles and said no thank you to the honour.

But no, he grabbed it with both greedy little hands, no doubt fantasising about the doors it would open and the heights to which it would catapult him.

The man’s a puffed-up hypocrite – as is our own PM Kier Starmer, who also accepted a gong for just doing his job as Director of Public Prosecutions. And even though I think David Beckham is a good and decent man, I don’t think he should have got a knighthood either.

He’s been handsomely rewarded for everything he’s done, everything he’s achieved – did he really need a Knighthood as well? Wouldn’t it be better, more honest, if these gongs were given to ordinary people who’ve done extraordinary things, for no reward? They’re the people Britain should be celebrating, not fabulously wealthy ex-footballers and useless mayors.