Sir Sadiq Khan has said London is “one of the safest” cities in the world after the number of homicides in the capital fell to their lowest level in over a decade.
Appearing on Mornings With Ridge And Frost on Sky News, the mayor of London also took the opportunity to swipe at US President Donald Trump, calling him a “bully” as a long-running spat between the pair rumbled on.
Mr Trump used his address to the UN General Assembly in September to criticise the UK, and London specifically, saying the capital was being run by a “terrible mayor” who had “changed” the city.
But on Monday Sir Sadiq said London was “more than two-and-a-half times safer than New York, five times safer than LA, 12 times safer than Chicago”.
Read more: London homicides fall to lowest level in over a decade
Asked by Sky News lead presenter Wilfred Frost if he has spoken on the phone recently to Zohran Mamdani, his counterpart in New York City, the London mayor replied: “We message regularly and stuff, and, it brings a smile to my face, talking about Zohran.”
The two men have bonded over their shared liberal values – and their fierce criticism of Mr Trump.
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When the Democrat mayor was elected in November – making him the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of New York City, as well as the youngest in more than a century – Sir Sadiq declared that “hope won”.
Sir Sadiq told Sky News: “He’s going to do a great job, I think, in the second-greatest city in the world, and try to make the progress we’ve made in London.”
Mr Mamdani officially began as mayor shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, and has faced harsh criticism from Mr Trump, who called him a “communist” – though a meeting after the mayor’s election was unexpectedly friendly.
Asked if he has any tips for Mr Mamdani on how to handle the US president, the mayor of London replied: “He doesn’t need advice from me. He’s going to be great mayor.
“I’ve got on really well with all the mayors of New York. It’s our nearest competitor and a friend and colleague, as a city.”
But in a clear rebuke to Mr Trump, Sir Sadiq added: “What I would say to anybody is, whether you’re nine years old, whether you’re 14 years old, whether you’re older. Don’t let bullies win.”
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A lengthy rivalry
There is no love lost between the two men, who have been hurling insults across the Atlantic for the past eight years.
It appears Mr Trump took a dislike to the mayor of London after he gave permission for protesters to fly a giant blimp of the president styled as a baby, during his first state visit to the UK.
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Since then, the pair have traded derogatory remarks, with the president calling Sir Sadiq a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor” as well as “incompetent” and a “disaster” in an interview with Politico last month.
But the mayor responded by branding Mr Trump as “racist, sexist, misogynistic” and “Islamophobic”, adding that he was “living rent-free” in the president’s head.
During Monday’s interview, Sir Sadiq also refused to rule out running to be mayor of London for a fourth term, saying: “My last election was nearer than my next one, so ask me again in a year’s time.”
