To ask if it's a good thing that London has a Muslim mayor

[DoesFlossfloss]

Because my London based in-laws are not happy and I've not been following the campaign as I'm not in London so don't really care. However, we're seeing PILs this weekend and it will be up for discussion.

Yes of course I'd vote for Hitler. Or Bin Laden. All they have to do is put on a red rosette. Completely without the ability to think, I am. Yellow dog Socialist.

I could imagine that khan will, if anything, go the other way regarding any kind of possible sniff of a Muslim agenda.

The loony left made an unholy alliance with Islamic extremism as though the two have some kind of mutual values which (apart from hating Jews and Israel) they don't - or rather shouldn't - have.

Khan presents an opportunity to demonstrate how unacceptable Islamic (or any religious) extremism is in a liberal democratic country and, while people are entitled to believe what they wish, there is no need to tolerate it out of fear of being accused of islamophobia.

Not sure I'm a huge fan of khan but I think a liberal Muslim mayor could be a very good thing for London and I wish him well.

Touting Majid Nawaz, of the utterly useless and irrelevant Qulliam Foundation as some kind of font of knowledge is nonsensical.

All Majid Nawaz does is paint other Muslims as extremists in order to justify the vast sums of government funding his organisation receives. I would love to see the evidence as to what his organisation has achieved other than fame for Majid Nawaz.

Note, NewStatesmen, that me pointing out this well-known fact isn't to "shut down the conversation" but to counter your flawed appeal to authority by citing Majid Nawaz as any kind of expect on Muslims.

Likewise citing rightwing blogs like Hurry Up Harry and Jacobism, although it's good that people on here have recognised those blog posts as the smear attempts they are.

He seems to be turning on Corbyn.

He was the one who nominated him, it makes me question his integrity.
We'll see.

I think Khan's election as Mayor of London will turn out to be very bad for Corbyn

Khan appears very very clever, clever to win the job!!! That makes me worrying! London has been home to us and we thought it will be a home for a long term future. The first time in the last more than 10 yrs living here I am thinking there could be a day we have to find a new home somewhere else! Hope not!

Greenleave, what is that you think might happen or that Khan might do that would make you want to leave London?

It might not be blatant all out racism. It could be concern over the seemingly ever rising number of Muslims here in London.
Perhaps people are looking for a way to articulate how many Christian mayors are to be found in the Middle East?

Why would anyone care about that?

Perhaps people are looking for a way to articulate how many Christian mayors are to be found in the Middle East?

What on Earth has that got to do with the British son of Pakistani (which is NOT in the Middle East, FYI) immigrants being elected Mayor?

How are they connected?

Go on, take your time and spell out exactly why events in the Middle East (feel free to talk about specific countries too) should impact the political section process in the UK.

"It might not be blatant all out racism. It could be concern over the seemingly ever rising number of Muslims here in London.
Perhaps people are looking for a way to articulate how many Christian mayors are to be found in the Middle East?"

The OP's PILs may not be showing blatant all out racism. But that post certainly is!

Greenleave, as English appears not to be your first language, may I point out that it's much more likely to be Conservative politicians whose policies might force you out - not just of London, but the UK.

Actually Pakistian, Egypt, Bharain, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt and Senegal (all 95%+ Muslim) have all either had Christian MPs or mayors of large towns/cities.

I know the West likes to feel it's always the most progressive and does everything good first but it's not always the case.

The religion of the mayor should not matter and ordinarily it wouldn't, however in this case much has been made of religion by both the main opposition he faced and also by himself both to counter this and as a political point. Therefore religion had been made in this case political. The question now is should this matter to his term of office - I would hope not, and that he now treats all groups equally, and given his record as a human rights lawyer I believe he will.

No way was Goldsmith the better candidate and his campaign was awful

Goldsmith, who had good historic 'eco' credentials, should have picked up a lot of second preference votes - from the Greens, from the Lib Dems etc. He didn't. His campaign was a massive turn-off across the political spectrum.

That link from Maajid Nawaz (Quilliam Foundation) repeatedly says Sadiq Khan is no extremist, just that he was opportunistic in the past, standing alongside some unpleasant people in order to get votes.
Duh, typical politician.
Let's give Sadiq a fair chance as London Mayor

I disagree with IPityThePontipines about Quilliam though:

They are a Muslim thinktank / lobbying org which produces ideas that are controversial to many other Muslims - such as stopping public funding to more fundamentalist groups - but that does not make them irrelevant or useless to the country as a whole.
They advocate a more liberal Westernised form of Islam and discuss how best to oppose extremism.

They usually seem most comfortable among the Liberal Democrats, but Nawaz waited until after the election to say he voted for them rather than Sadiq Khan.
Policies generally mainstream liberal too:

They have defended the rights of women to wear the hijab or the burqa, but also not to wear them.
They have condemned Israeli actions in Gaza, but not the right of Israel to exist as a state.
They have confronted racists like Geert Wilder and the EDL - and managed via discussion to persuade the EDL leadership to stop street protests.

btw, they have received no public funding since 2011, when they disagreed with government policy.

Sadiq Khan is no extremist, just that he was opportunistic in the past, standing alongside some unpleasant people in order to get votes. Duh, typical politician.

Now I actually strongly disagree with this. The Labour Party has spent the last 20 years assiduously policing the activities of people on the right and anything which could even mildly be suggested as associated with right wing extremism would be pounced on. If a Tory was to actively court the EDL or BNP and seek votes from them then the left would not be saying 'Oh it's fine, he doesn't really believe what he's saying, he's just trying to get their votes'.

I don't really see why when the extremists are of an Islamic stripe the left are so happy to dismiss courting them as insincere and 'It's fine as long as you keep your fingers crossed when you say it'.

It's hypocritical.

I am British by passport!

For many years living in Richmond the last few years I have seen Goldsmith keeps his promises always.
I am worried about Labour especially with recent Europe tactic of accepting mass refugee uncontrollably(my friends live in Munich and planning to move as the city has changed so much the last year or so, its unsafe for them to live their and they dont want to raise their children anymore.
I was born and grown up in a country where 80% of us have no belief so I have no idea about his religion. All his promises are on the hottest topic(freeze tube fare, who doesnt like it especially both me and my husband pay alot to get to work daily), cheaper housing(cheap house in London, who doesnt want it). Now, I actually feel more realistic when he promise no strike, less delays, faster trains, more frequent. He promises support business more jobs(and a plan for it). However this things take time and it wont bring him a quick success. I feel very uncertained

All Majid Nawaz does is paint other Muslims as extremists in order to justify the vast sums of government funding his organisation receives

I think you'll find that Quilliam no longer receive government funding and haven't done for years ... another inconvenient fact, I'm afraid

BigChoc - I see you've been at Quilliam's wiki page.

Here are two examples of why Quilliam are generally despised by other Muslims:

www.loonwatch.com/2013/12/exposed-quilliam-leadership-directly-involved-with-neocon-douglas-murrays-henry-jackson-society/

harvardpolitics.com/harvard/sam-harris-maajid-nawaz-illusion-knowledge/

All Quilliam does is to smear any Muslim who disagrees with them as an extremist. That's it. They have achieved diddly squat. The EDL still exists, as does Britain First. There is no evidence that they have achieved anything and a community group that is detested by the community that it is supposed to serve is clearly useless.

Only time can tell, he has majority votes(and the highest the last election) so many people believes him. Lets hope he is as good.

Greenleave- can you say specifically what is worrying you?

Green London thrived under 8 years of KL before BJ and I think we are all agreed that SK is far to the right politically and much more considered in his cultural views than KL.