Donald Trump today claimed London wants to ‘go to Sharia law’ as he once again described Sir Sadiq Khan as a ‘terrible mayor’.
The US President claimed in an address to the United Nations General Assembly that the UN was ‘funding an assault on Western countries and their borders’.
Speaking in New York City, Mr Trump said: ‘Europe is in serious trouble. They have been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before.
‘I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it’s been changed, it’s been so changed. Now they want to go to Sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can’t do that.
‘Both the immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe if something isn’t done immediately. This cannot be sustained.’
But a spokesperson for Sir Sadiq hit back immediately, telling the Daily Mail: ‘We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.
‘London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.’
The Mayor’s office also pointed to statistics showing the homicide rate in the US is 68 per 1 million population, compared to the UK rate of 9.8 per 1 million population.
Sharia law is the Islamic religious law regulating public and private life – and while Sharia councils do exist in England, they have no legal jurisdiction.
US President Donald Trump addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York today
Mr Trump and Sir Sadiq have a long-running feud which escalated last week when the President described the Mayor as ‘among the worst mayors in the world’.
The President claimed Sir Sadiq – London’s first Muslim mayor – had wanted to be part of his UK state visit last week, but Mr Trump said he ‘asked that he not be there’.
However Sir Sadiq then hit back, saying he was ‘indifferent’ to Mr Trump and had ‘more important things to worry about’.
The Labour Mayor accused the American leader of encouraging divisive far-right politics around the world as he landed in Britain last Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Thursday after his state visit concluded, Mr Trump said: ‘I didn’t want him there, I asked that he not be there.
‘I think the mayor of London Khan is among the worst mayors in the world, and we have some bad ones. If you look at Chicago, but I think he’s the equivalent of the mayor of Chicago.
‘I think he’s done a terrible job. Crime in London is through the roof. The mayor of London Khan, mayor Khan has done a terrible job.
Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan speaks with police officers in London’s West End on July 30
‘And on immigration, he’s a disaster. I asked that he not be there. He wanted to be there, as I understand, I didn’t want him.’
Sir Sadiq is understood to have made it clear weeks ago that he did not seek or expect an invite to events held for the contentious state visit.
Asked to respond to Mr Trump’s claim regarding the state visit, the Mayor said on Sunday: ‘I’ve not really given it much thought. I am indifferent to President Trump. I literally (have) more important things to worry about.’
The two men’s spat dates back to at least 2015, when the Labour politician condemned the then presidential hopeful’s suggestion that Muslims should be banned from travelling to the US.
The row intensified when the president criticised the mayor’s response to the London Bridge terror attack.
And in 2018 Sir Sadiq’s office gave permission for an inflatable depicting Mr Trump as a baby to fly in Parliament Square as the Republican visited the UK.
During his first official state visit, Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Khan ‘has done a terrible job as Mayor of London’ and was ‘a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me’.
As Mr Trump was sworn into the White House for a second term, Sir Sadiq warned of a ‘resurgent fascism’.
