A Very Hypocritical Khant 

By Jack Watson & Roger Watson

Sadiq Khan, London Mayor, introduced ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zones) on 8 April 2019, which is an area in London where a fee is charged for driving the most ‘polluting vehicles’. Initially, the zone was meant to cover only Central London, but now it has been extended to cover the entire capital.  If you are caught driving in it, you will be fined £12.50, and if you fail to pay and are caught on the network of number-plate recognition cameras, you are liable to pay a fine of £180. That is in addition to the healthy number of speeding fines and parking tickets you may have racked up along the way. Strangely, the cameras used to record drivers in the ULEZ are spontaneously falling over in great numbers.

In March, C40 Cities which is chaired by the illustrious Khan, set a ‘progressive’ target for 2030 of a daily per person allowance of 44 grams of meat (enough for two meatballs), a daily limit of 2,500 calories, one short haul flight every three years, eight new clothing items a year and private cars available for only one in five people. This is ludicrous. We need meat as it contains protein, which is important for growth and development, and contains other nutrients the body needs, such as iodine, iron, zinc and vitamin B12. Some people need more than 2,500 calories in a day (for example, athletes and children). Which eight items are being referred to? Does this apply to growing children and does the allowance include underpants? Do socks count as one or two items? Are shoes included? We need to be told.

However, whilst the mayor has been campaigning about his plans and ensuring other people meet his targets, these demands do not apply to him. Since he was elected in 2016, Khan, his deputies and his officials have racked up more than 430,000 air miles (some people have not travelled that far in their entire lives). This is enough to fly around the world 17 times, and is estimated to have pumped out 200 tons of carbon. Further, he recently flew to the US with five aides to attend the UN General Assembly and take part in the Climate Ambition Summit to promote his Ultra Low Emission Zone, which he claims will reduce deaths caused by air pollution. This journey alone accounted for 41,412 of the air miles. The hypocrisy is off the charts.

There seems to be no aspect of the lives of Londoners that Khan does not have a view on and does not wish to interfere with. Take the London Underground. At the behest of the Glorious Leader, cake may no longer be advertised on posters in the underground. Apparently the Transport for London (TfL) rules ‘seek to keep unhealthy foods from being displayed across the network.’ Well, if he won’t let Londoners eat cake they can always finish their meal with a nice slice of cheese…or so you’d think. Well, not according to Khant (do that) as he has also abolished advertising cheese on the underground after artisanal cheese adverts were spotted by some hawk-eyed health fanatic.

All very strange given that, in order to challenge stereotypes about body size he promotes ‘body positive’ posters, which include some people who can only be described as obese. They didn’t acquire that shape eating quinoa and pomegranate seeds. We suspect the occasional slice of cake or artisanal cheese may have passed their lips. Ironically there are adverts for strippers. But, before you get too excited, these are not shapely ladies promising to display their wares. These posters are for Magic Mike who are a set of male strippers. So that’s ok then.

If you actually get on the Tube then you (male readers) are exhorted not to stare inappropriately, called ‘intrusive staring’. It leads one to wonder what ‘non-intrusive staring’ would look like. You are also warned about ‘cyber flashing’ (what?) and upskirting. All good advice we are sure, but in a city where knife crime is up 16% and over 12,000 knife related incidents take place annually, given that nobody has yet been stared or fatally upskirted to death, you might expect to see some posters related to knife crime. You may think again. Hypocrisy? Much!

Jack Watson has a Substack newsletter called Ten Foot Tigers about being a Hull City fan. You can subscribe here.

Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.

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