Monday, September 26, 2016

Terror attacks are 'part and parcel of living in a big city', claims London mayor Sadiq Khan

  • Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, is on a tour of New York and Chicago 
  •  He was in Manhattan on Saturday when a bomb went off on 23rd Street
  •  Mr Khan said: 'We have got to be prepared for these sorts of things'
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said that living with terror attacks - like the one that hit New York at the weekend - is 'part and parcel of living in a big city'.

Mr Khan told the Evening Standard: 'It is a reality I'm afraid that London, New York, other major cities around the world have got to be prepared for these sorts of things.

'That means being vigilant, having a police force that is in touch with communities, it means the security services being ready, but also it means exchanging ideas and best practice.'

Sadiq Khan (pictured) travelled on the subway from Harlem to the 9/11 Memorial in downtown Manhattan, where he laid flowers to remember the 3,000 victims
Sadiq Khan (pictured) travelled on the subway from Harlem to the 9/11 Memorial in downtown Manhattan, where he laid flowers to remember the 3,000 victims

Mr Khan, who was elected as Mayor in May to replace Boris Johnson, who is ironically now Britain's Foreign Secretary, was in the United States on a business trip. 

He said he had a 'sleepless' night on Saturday after a bomb exploded on West 23rd Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighbourhood, injuring 31 people.

Another device on 27th Street in Manhattan failed to go off and Ahmad Rahami, an Afghan-born US citizen was later arrested in New Jersey. 


Mr Rahami has been charged in relation to the New York explosion and another device that exploded harmlessly hours earlier near a race in Seaside Park, New Jersey. 

After taking advice from the New York authorities it was 'business as usual' for Mr Khan, who visited the 9/11 memorial and attended a New York Mets baseball game.

Mr Khan reportedly hinted that the Mets could come to London next year to play a Major League Baseball game at West Ham's Olympic Stadium. 


Mr Khan later met with the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, as well as with Muslim community leaders, and co-wrote an editorial in the New York Times

Mr Khan, who was the first Muslim Mayor of a major western city when he was elected in May, Mr de Blasio and Paris's Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, wrote: 'We call on world leaders to adopt a similar welcoming and collaborative spirit on behalf of the refugees all over the world.

'Our cities stand united in the call for inclusivity. It is part of who we are as citizens of diverse and thriving cities.'

NEW MUSLIM MAYOR OF LONDON CREATES ‘THOUGHT POLICE’

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