London's New Muslim Mayor: Extremist or Opportunist?

originally posted by: woodwardjnr
Let's just imagine the new mayor was Jewish, would it still be appropriate to constantly talk about their religion? I imagine not, islamaphobia is perfectly acceptable in the media today.

Yep. And apparently it's perfectly acceptable on ATS to accuse a man of being an extreme muslim with zero proof at all. Openly hating muslims is fine and dandy it seems. Which is why Khans victory is important. It's a big 2 fingers up to those who peddle fear and hatred. Be it Trump, the OP, right wing sites and groups etc.... One of the biggest and most important cities in the world just elected a muslim as it's mayor. Awesome. Now let's hope he does a good job.

Boris was a goof but he did a good job. As someone who voted for Khan, im looking forward to seeing what he's got up his sleeve, and enjoying watching losers bleat about him.

a reply to: tommo39

As a born and bred Londoner, I don't know whether this is the funniest or the most stupid discussion I've ever read.

Why did we vote for him? Simple - he's one of us. He's one of us and he told it like it is. Not a greenwashed son of a billionaire like Goldsmith, not a member of a tainted party like the Lib Dems, not a candidate whose manifesto had nothing to do with the post like UKIP.

His dad was a bus driver. He grew up on the Henry Prince Estate (housing project, to the Yanks). Not the nastiest estate, even then, with some nice open spaces and King George Park just over the way. I used to work with kids from there back in the 90s, before the area was gentrified, and they were OK. That resonates with Londoners.

There were seven of them in a three bedroom flat. Back in the 70s and 80s, that was more common than you might think - and nothing to do with ethnicity. That resonates with us older Londoners.

He went to a sink school. Believe me, I wouldn't send my dog to Ernest Bevin, even if he did create NATO. Not in the 70s, not in the 80s, 90s, 00s or now. A sh*thole. Yet he managed to pull himself out of it. Maximum respect to the man.

He's on the right wing of his party, a centrist in the grand scheme of things. Forget the cobblers in the tabloids. He's not quite a Blairite but very close. Appealed to liberals, the moderate left and the moderate right.

A lot of American's have trouble understanding London. We are a world city, like New York, but whereas the US has many centres, Britain really only has one. London is the financial centre, the political centre, the cultural centre, the you-name-it centre (cue comments from offended provincials in 3, 2, 1...). It has the highest average earnings, the highest house prices (you try and buy a three bedroom flat on the Henry Prince Estate now for less than £500k), the highest education standards and so on. It is both engine, bridge and lifeboat to the rest of Britain.

We don't have ghettoes like some US cities, we don't have the no-go zones you read about in shonky American websites, we aren't scared of our neighbours. There are outliers everywhere but we rub along pretty well.

Khan didn't get my first vote but, because he is of and for this great city, he got my second vote...and I'd rather vote Tory than Labour.

The legal thing? Under the British system, lawyers - solicitors and barristers - have to assume the innocence of their client because it is for the court, and only the court, to find guilt or culpability. It's due process. If I'm not mistaken, even prosecution lawyers have to assume innocence but present the evidence to the court to establish guilt. It might be wrong there.

What's more, Khan was a human rights lawyer. Forget what you read in the tabloids: their job is to establish the boundaries of the law. They seek to challenge and set precedents to help define what the law means in practice. He, like any other human rights lawyer, will take these cases out of principle (OK, and for his careers). Same as employment lawyers.

There is a huge Ahmadi presence in his constituency. The first London mosque, built by the Ahmaddiya, is a mile or so from the Henry Prince. The Ahmadi flagship mosque is about four miles away. It's about a mile about from where I'm sitting, typing, and the worst I can say about them is that Lidl in Morden gets too busy after Friday prayers. They are pretty decent, high profile - lots of fundraising for secular charities etc - and progressive in their ideas.

Ahmadis are considered kaffir in most Islamic states, and have been for decades, because they believe their founder was the Messiah. I'm no theologist, but that's a pretty major f*cking issue there and you can see the mainstream mosques' point of view.

I'm happy to expain more and help people deny ignorance, but something tells me a lot of people would rather stay in their blogosphere comfort zone.

a reply to: Whodathunkdatcheese

I found that an absolutely fascinating post with lots of back story that I wasn't aware of that makes me even happier he won even though I can't bear the thought of a Corbyn led labour ever getting into power. Thanks for taking time to put together such an interesting post.

originally posted by: gladtobehere
a reply to: tommo39

It does seem as though he has a somewhat checkered past if we buy into the idea of guilt by association, .[/url]

Him and every other person on the planet.

originally posted by: TheBulk

originally posted by: dogstar23

Any thoughts on why Londeners chose him to be their mayor, and how this will bring upon them whatever it is they deserve. And what, exactly, do they deserve? What is the invasion in full progress, and how does the election of this mayor positively or negatively effect the goals of said invasion?

It should be obvious, but I'm really starting to learn that you guys are seemingly in a trance state.

If you elect Islamic extremists, it's likely they will eventually outnumber you OR you will join their ranks.

Thank God I'm English and 85% of my countrymen are white and we have an English prime-minister.

Let's compare this to er......er....let's pick a random country.......'Murika where only 62% of of my countrymen are white and that my countries leader is a Muslim.

Oh, dear; I think I know where I would rather live.

Sour grapes much?