Of cultural integration, being a feminist dad, and why he’s proud he wore a crown for the Queen
superior to someone else.”
Khan says he feels particularly strongly that the hard-won freedoms of his daughters should not be eroded by a new climate of fundamentalism. He says he is disturbed to see more niqabs on the streets of London, as well as the roads of Pakistan. “When I was younger you didn’t see people in hijabs and niqabs, not even in Pakistan when I visited my family. In London we got on. People dressed the same. What you see now are people born and raised here who are choosing to wear the jilbab or niqab. There is a question to be asked about what is going on in those homes. What’s insidious is if people are starting to think it i s a pp ro p r i a t e to t re a t women differently or that it has been forced on them. What worries me is children being forced to adopt a lifestyle.”
Should women be permitted to cover their faces in London? “It’s not for me to tell women what to wear. But I do think that in public service we should be able to see each other’s faces. Eye contact matters. You should be able to see the face.
“There is no other city in the world where I would want to raise my daughters than London. They have rights, they have protection, the right to wear what they like, think what they like, to meet who they like, to study what they like, more than they would in any other country.”
He reflects that his family represents three generations of progress in London. “When my parents came here there were signs saying, ‘No blacks, no Irish, no dogs’. The next generation, I suffered abuse and got into fights and was called the P-word. My daughters live five minutes from the area I was brought up in and have never suffered racial abuse. That’s the progress we have made in 30 years. That’s the joy of London.”
He wants integration and says that speaking English is important for this. “I can say things that maybe you would feel uncomfortable saying. We should not be embarrassed to say people should be able to speak English in London.”
Khan took his wife and daughters to see the film Suffragette and is a feminist dad. He wants more female role models and promises a higher proportion of senior women at Ci t y Hal l . He is indignant about the case of the journalist Isabel Hardman being described as “totty” by an MP. “It beggars belief. One of my daughters is thinking about becoming a journalist. When you have daughters it matters even more. Why should they be limited in anything because they are women?” His 16-yearold daughter, Anisah, is doing GCSEs so is banned from mayoral campaigning but all the family are rooting for Sadiq.
Sadiq Khan had a reputation for ambition within the Labour Party and was much later than Tessa Jowell in declaring his candidacy. Now he is di st anc ing himself from hi s par t y leadership. Does he regret nominating Jeremy Corbyn, and is he or is he not Corbyn’s representative in this election? He talks faster and he looks away: “First of all, Jeremy Corbyn, David Cameron, Boris Johnson — they are not on the ballot p a p e r. I t ’s a c h o i c e b e t ween Z a c Goldsmith and me.”
Would he have nominated Corbyn if he had known that he would actually win? “I can’t go back in a Tardis,” he says. Do you regret it? “I suspect being leader of the Labour Party is not an easy job, it’s for Jeremy to explain how he’s doing it.” How angry was Khan when Corbyn said Crossrail 2 should be delayed until the North gets the Birmingham to Manchester stretch of HS2? “Jeremy should know better. Infrastructure is really important to our growing city.”
Khan’s discomfort on the subject of Corbyn is so marked that it’s tempting to tease him. Will he be encouraging street parties in Islington to mark the Queen’s official birthday in June? He rhapsodises about them as a symbol of s oc i al cohesion. But what if Corbyn does not feel like celebrating the Queen? Khan answers sternly: “I’m sure those around him would advise him against that. Labour leaders will come and go, the Queen will still be there. One of my earliest memories is celebrating the Queen’s Silver Jubilee as a six-year-old. There’s a photograph of me wearing my crown. My hairs still stand up when I think about joining the Privy Council. It would be curmudgeonly not to celebrate such an important day by not going to a street party. I’m sure Jeremy will.”
What lessons would Khan wish the Labour Party to draw from a mayoral victory? “You can achieve more in four years in power that you can in 18 of opposition. Elections are like sports and legal cases, they are habit-forming. We can’t get into the habit of losing elections. That means understanding that elections are won by appealing to everyone.”
Khan accuses Boris of using the power base of being Mayor to achieve his aim of becoming Prime Minister. Surely Khan would like to do same. Does he want to be Prime Mini ster? “No,” he says emphatically. “I get emotional. It feels like my entire life has been training to be the Mayor of London.”
He enthuses about his plans, including giving free tickets to 10-year-olds for theatres and arts institutions. “This is an example of what a mayor can do.”
He accuses Boris of squandering his time in the role. “The best of Boris was 2012, the Olympics. Where he’s let down London is when he has been part-time. For the past two years he has been an absentee landlord. I’m not going to be as entertaining as Boris, I couldn’t if I tried, but London needs someone who is going to fix our problems. And my promise is always to comb my hair.”