Ding ding! Over the river at City Hall things got heated this morning with London Mayor Sadiq Khan forced to apologise for labelling a Tory rival ‘thick’.
Khan was being grilled over the expanded Ulez zone during Mayor’s Question Time, with Conservative London Assembly member Peter Fortune trying repeatedly to pin Khan down on when reports on the scheme’s expanded zone might be published. Frustrated by the Mayor’s refusal to give a straight answer, Fortune continued to probe Khan and said: ‘You know, you can be a bit slippy. You’re very good at this!’
After a bit of back and forth, the Mayor shot back, claiming his exchange with Fortune was ‘like being back at sixth form’. Khan then added, ‘Honestly Chair, for someone who reads a lot, he ain’t half thick is he?’ Ouch.
Unperturbed, amongst the booing Khan’s insult prompted, Fortune claimed victory in the slanging match. ‘Listen, listen. That’s when I know when you’re in trouble. When you start getting personal, that’s when you’re in trouble. So remember, you’re the Mayor of London and you’re a grown man – well, nearly. You’re a grown man and you should act accordingly.’
Perhaps too little, too late, the Assembly Chair Andrew Boff finally waded in to chastise the Mayor, saying ‘Mr Mayor, I just want to remind everyone, we should not be using personal abuse in this chamber. It’s not helpful and it makes us look a bit…seedy to be honest.’
Khan has since had to beat a hasty retreat, apologising for calling Fortune ‘thick’. ‘I am very sorry for saying that. I have reflected on that and I should not have said that. It was not appropriate for me to have said that and I am very sorry, genuinely.’
1-0 to Peter Fortune, it seems!
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