Last week, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was talking tough on violence against women and girls (VAWG), saying on social media that it was “a national epidemic” and that it was “unacceptable” that female members of our society “continue to suffer because of the poison of misogyny”.
Khan also spoke of his “primary and secondary school toolkits”, which are supposedly “helping boys build respect for women and girls and promote healthy relationships”.
But can the mayor of our capital be trusted to fight all forms of violence, intimidation, and harassment towards British women and girls?
Khan’s record when it comes to tackling and challenging VAWG – especially in London – is somewhat suspect. It is worth noting that Khan is not only the mayor of London – by virtue of being in this position, he is also technically the city’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) through the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).
Indeed, the Mayor of London can be described as a ‘co-governor’ of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) alongside the UK’s Home Secretary (currently Shabana Mahmood). Despite having these major law-and-order responsibilities over London, Khan has struck, at times, a dismissive tone over forms of VAWG in the capital.
Sadiq Khan's denial of grooming gangs in London renders his latest tough talk meaningless - Rakib Ehsan
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The reality is that Sadiq Khan has a record of batting away suggestions that London has a grooming-gangs problem (similar to what has taken place in towns such as Rotherham in south Yorkshire, Telford in Shropshire, and Oldham in Greater Manchester) – to the point that he has been accused by some of covering up such heinous abuses.
Near the beginning of this year, former Conservative Party mayoral candidate and current Tory leader in the London Assembly, Susan Hall – who was defeated by Khan in the 2024 elections for the role of Mayor of London - asked Khan how many rape gangs were operating in London.
In a remarkable feat of obfuscation, Khan asked Hall on seven occasions to clarify what she meant, saying “the situation in London in relation to young people being groomed is different to other parts of the country”.
However, a joint MyLondon-Daily Express investigation found details of six potential victims in London, after its inspection of four reports published by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMIC).
After being presented with these public records, former Greater Manchester Police detective and courageous whistleblower Margaret Oliver said that for three of the victims, she was certain it could be described as a report of grooming-gang activity.
Then, following an investigation by the London Evening Standard, which uncovered cases of vulnerable young girls from across the capital who reported allegations of rape by multiple men but were responded to with inadequate police action, the
Metropolitan Police Service made the decision to reopen 9,000 cases in a major London grooming-gangs probe.
While the Mayor of London can refer to his anti-misogyny ‘toolkits’ for the classroom and has spoken on the need to challenge female-hating material in the online space, he has fallen well short in terms of offering his support for the robust public investigations we need to understand the true scale of grooming-gang activity in the capital.
Neither has he been exceptionally vocal over the threat posed by the ongoing small-boats emergency to the public safety of women and girls across the country.
Therefore, it is no surprise that some considered his recent intervention over the security and well-being of female citizens to be inauthentic and lacking in substance.