Sadiq Khan: Police protection needed due to skin colour and religion

Needing 24-hour police protection due to the "colour of his skin and the god he worships" has been "tough" on his family, the mayor of London has said.

Sadiq Khan told a fringe event at Labour's annual conference he had received "death threats" and "vitriol" since becoming mayor in 2016.

Mr Khan said the response of England footballers to the racist abuse they suffered after the Euro 2020 gave him "confidence to talk about it myself".

In May, he won a second term as mayor.

Mr Khan said he had 15 police officers on a team who kept him safe "around the clock".

After resisting protection when he was first elected mayor he agreed to full-time police presence in 2017 when the risks to those around him had persuaded him to change his mind.

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"I have a duty of care to my staff and I love my family," Mr Khan said.

The London mayor said police protection meant "you cannot do anything spontaneously" including going for a walk, riding a bike or opening the front door of his own home.

Mr Khan said the level of "vitriol" sent to his office has led to staff "receiving counselling".

Police protection has been "tough" on his wife and family, Mr Khan says

In August a newspaper article criticised the mayor for travelling in a convoy of three vehicles to Battersea Park, which is four-and-a-half miles from his home, to take his dog Luna for a walk.

But he said that decision had been made on police advice.

"That story lead to people sending me threatening emails," he said.

"To be slagged off in the press it's not nice. Imagine being my wife or my daughters or my mum, it's not nice.

"I can become a hermit and stay at home and only visit my local common because somebody and the news desk thinks that's all I'm entitled to do.

"But I've got to be allowed to lead my life as normal."

Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford missed penalties in England's shootout defeat in the Euros 2020 Final

Mr Khan said he does not mention his level of protection before because he did not want to discourage others from going into politics.

But he said he had been inspired to do so now by Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka who had pushed back against racist abuse.

"I'm not going to allow these racists and these Islamophobes to intimidate me, and I'll never bow to them.

"The mayor of the greatest city in the world needs protection 24 hours a day, seven days a week because of the colour of his skin and the god he worships, that can't be right."