The mayor of London has been put under 24-hour police protection following repeated abuse and threats on social media.
DEATH THREATS
Sadiq Khan, who defeated the Tory Zac Goldsmith to become mayor in 2016, has said that the intensity of abuse has risen exponentially since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
“I will not be cowed or bullied by these people, but you can’t escape the fact that those close to me are worried,” Khan said in an interview with the Guardian. “It can’t be right that one of the consequences of me being the mayor of London and a Muslim in public life is that I have police protection,” he added. Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a global city who also campaigned to remain in the EU, said that the referendum campaign three years ago allowed “things” to come to the surface and normalized certain behaviors and ideas that shouldn’t be normalized.
The London mayor also warned that such threats, if left unchallenged, could lead to violence and gave the example of the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox who was shot and stabbed by a far-right terrorist prior to the referendum. “What sort of message does it send to my children’s generation who want to get into politics?” Khan said.
In recent months, a large number of MPs have reportedly received death threats and abuse following their public stance against Brexit. These threats have been received online and in person.