Deputy mayor apologises to Susan Hall over tweets

Susan Hall and Kaya Comer-Schwartz faced each other at the London Assembly on Wednesday

The London mayor's new policing deputy has apologised for calling the former Conservative mayoral candidate a "racist" and a "climate change denier".

The apology, from Kaya Comer-Schwartz, follows claims that her "abhorrent" choice of language put Susan Hall "at risk of great physical harm".

Comer-Schwartz, who until this month was Labour leader of Islington Council, was announced by Sadiq Khan as his choice for deputy mayor for policing and crime.

She told Hall she understood "as a woman in public office, how difficult those [safety] issues are, so I would like to apologise to you, woman to woman".

'Affected me badly'

The row stems from a post made by Comer-Schwartz in April, just days ahead of the mayoral election.

Comer-Schwartz warned voters on the social media platform: "We can’t let a racist, climate change-denying Tory to be mayor of London," which was shared by Mr Khan.

In order to be officially confirmed into her new role at City Hall, Comer-Schwartz had to win the support of the police and crime committee chaired by Hall at a hearing on Wednesday.

She told Kaya Comer-Schwartz she "resented" being called racist "by somebody who’s never met me, who doesn’t know me – as well as 'a climate change denier'.

"I think to put things like that out, when you don’t know somebody at all, is abhorrent… this has affected me badly," she added.

Hall was frequently accused of racism during the mayoral election from politicians who supported Khan and from groups like Hope Not Hate.

They pointed to the fact that in February 2020, she 'liked' a tweet with a large image of Enoch Powell and the words "It’s never too late to save your country".

The MP is famous for his 1968 'rivers of blood' speech, in which he warned against immigration from the former colonies of the British Empire.

The police and crime committee resolved not to object to Comer-Schwartz’s appointment but said it would write to the mayor with "concerns about her ability to scrutinise and hold the Met [Police] to account".