‘Doesn’t represent real Londoners’: London mayor Sadiq Khan in race row

An extraordinary race saga has engulfed the London mayor after a picture of an all-white family with in all-advised caption was published on his website.

An extraordinary race row has engulfed London mayor Sadiq Khan after a picture of an all-white family with the ill-advised slogan was published on his official website.

The picture showed a couple and their two children walking along the River Thames with a caption reading: “Doesn’t represent real Londoners”.

The highly divisive message appeared in an official guide on how to portray the ‘brand’ of the Mayor and the Greater London Authority.

The picture that was uploaded on the Mayor’s website.

Mr Khan was forced to distance himself from the caption with a mayoral spokesman stating: “The photo caption was added by a staff member in an error, and doesn’t reflect the view of the Mayor or the Greater London Authority.

“The content is now be reviewed to ensure the language and guidance is appropriate”.

The entire guide – entitled ‘Look Book – Mayor of London brand Guidelines’ – was taken down from the official London.gov website after the furore.

There now calls for the mayor to apologise for the gaffe.

Susan Hall, the Tory candidate for next year’s London mayor election led the outcry.

“All Londoners are real Londoners, not matter their ethnicity, and Sadiq Khan needs to apologise and stop these desperate, politically-motivated attempts to divide people,” she said.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and his wife Saadiya last year. Picture: AFP

The inclusivity guide for staff was initially leaked to The Sun and caused a ruckus.

It showed staff have been banned from using the phrase “ladies and gentlemen” as it excludes non-binary people, as well as describing migrants as “illegal”. They must now call them people with “insecure immigration status” or “undocumented”.

In the guide’s section on gender, staff were told: “Avoid using ‘men and women’ say ‘people’ or ‘Londoners’”.

Workers were also told that “not all women have periods” and to use the phrase “people affected by period poverty”.

Khan has been the mayor of London since 2016. Picture: Getty

The memo goes on to say that the terms male and females are “dated and medicalised” and that “female humans are called girls and /or women”, male humans are called “boys and /or men”.

A spokesperson for the the Greater London Authority told The Sunin July: “This guide is about encouraging precision, offering recommendations and highlighting things for staff to consider, not banning words.

“London’s diversity is its greatest strength and it is right that the language we use to talk to and about London’s communities is as accurate, inclusive and representative as possible.”

Mr Khan became London’s first Muslim and ethnic minority mayor with the Labour politician securing a resounding Victorian over Conservative challenger Zac Goldsmith in 2016.

He replaced Boris Johnson who had run the city of 8.6 million people for eight years.

Mr Khan is the son of a bus driver who grew up in public housing in inner city London.

He featured in Time’s 100 list of most influential people in the world in 2018.

But he has been routinely criticised for imposing ‘woke new rules’ on the largest city of England.